The Cube Global Squad has this morning announced it will not be participating in the Lousa World Cups due to the rising local cases of COVID-19.
Portugal is currently recording its highest ever levels of COVID cases and has entered a 'State of Calamity' to try and combat the spread of the disease. Yesterday it stepped up its efforts in fighting the disease and introduced partial lockdowns in the Felgueiras, Lousada, and Pacos de Ferreira municipalities that are located around 150km (90 miles) north of Lousa.
The team apparently made the decision in Maribor and it means that Phil Atwill, Gaetan Vige, Max Hartenstern and their mechanics and team staff will not be making the trip over to Portugal for racing next weekend. The team's statement read:
| Due to the current sharp rise in corona infections throughout Europe, we do not want to expose any of our team members to this unpredictable situation against their will.
In Maribor we have made arrangements with mechanics and athletes and decided not to participate in the upcoming World Cup in Lousa. |
I think what they really meant was " uh, the situation in Portugal has presented us with an opportunity to save face, by using it as an excuse to stay home and save the money since we weren't planning on being competitive anyway'
An outdoor non contact sport with natural team bubbles, surely effective testing could mitigate much of the risk unlike the racing it’s self that is incredibley dangerous. Before anyone states what about the riders grand parents when they get home, we’ll elite sports people and their teams have responsibilities that come with there status so they should act responsibly during the events and adhere to pre and post testing as they would with all the drug stuff.
Of course there is all the support teams and TV etc but if rules are adhered too and effective testing takes place then I can’t see how an outdoor event like this can’t take place safely.
We’re not getting rid of this anytime soon so the more we learn to live with and manage the virus the better.
Of course no one should be forced to attend but I hope one or 2 fringe teams don’t cause the whole event to get canned.
Also hot take that will piss many people off, if you are under 60 and healthy this isn't very leathal. Protect elderly and immunocompromised people but young healthy people should still be allowed to live their lives
Sorry man I am over 60 but all my riding buddies are much younger, and they dont care too much. How am I go to live with the fact, that sooner or later I will get the virus from them (if not elsewhere) and eventually die or will be a cripple for the rest of my life?
How do you want to protect vulnerable people from others - lock them away?
This is not the flu, and not the plague.
It is a highly contigeous pandemic virus, and it is so dangerous, because many younger people dont show any symptoms.
Well that may be a good option in Kabul - not forcing other people to behave
Well possibly avoid riding with your younger friends for the time being. I love going to the local pub but have been once with Friends this year and sat outside.
Solitary riding during the first lockdown was quite enjoyable but I enjoy that anyway - I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea but there are a few things we can do to mitigate obvious risk.
So. If you're healthy, I'd say take precautions but live your life. Highly contagious? Sure. Not all that deadly, though, if you run the numbers.
And even for those under 60, even if it's not quite as deadly, there are now hundreds of thousands of people with persistent symptoms who are known as "long haulers". Read up on how this thing has ruined their lives. Fitness gone. Brain alacrity, gone. Irregular heart beat, etc. Stop saying it's like the flu. It's not the flu. Just shut up and listen to the experts that actually know what they're talking about.
www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-tragedy-of-the-post-covid-long-haulers-2020101521173
Dude... We can see the numbers and we can do math. The death rate is no more significant in terms of per capita rates than the previous seasons' flus, and the only reason there are more dead is because there are more infected, ergo our concern about spread (r0).
I've read Osterhom. I've read Fauci. I read the CDC's own report abstracts and then dig in later when I have more time. I've seen the data and seen the breakdowns.
Stop. We're not bowing down and we're not coming to heel anymore.
Enough slavery, people.
P.S. How many long-haulers have other conditions? Wacky how that's what really sets this apart, the fact that it attacks those ALREADY WEAK to invasions.
@teenwolf: It's your choice whether to worry about your life under those circumstances, but the data indicates your odds of surviving a brush with covid without issue are exceedingly positive. You're not worried about nothing, but your belief it's that much more dangerous than it really is suggests perhaps your allowing your fear to overwhelm your better judgement.
www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/22/926264615/covid-19-surges-in-rural-communities-overwhelming-some-local-hospitals
Just stop the stupid. What slavery? Basic public health measures? What parallel universe do you live in?
The so called long hauler issue is more complex. Numerous world level athletes have contracted the virus, recovered, and gone back to competition with no adverse effects. What we don’t know about many of these long hauler patents is what were their prior conditions? Were they already compromised and the virus brought the issues to the fore by compromising their immune systems?
Like the trillions of other viruses inside the human body. Reactions seem to be down to the individual immune response. It’s an interesting issue.
How many mutations of C-19 are there? Which one is the vaccine you’re going to take effective for?
The vaccine will be as useless as the influenza vaccine.
Humans have never been able to control viral outbreaks. If we really wanted to try to the best option we had was to prevent international travel from China when the WHO first learned of the virus. Interestingly they took the CCP’s word for it that the virus was noncommunicable between humans and for two weeks the virus was able to spread unchecked around the world.
THAT IS ONLY IF EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN TAKES THE H1N1 VACCINE, which also wears off as our immune system reset every few months to face new challenges and clear out antibodies.
BUT....334 Million US citizens don't take the vaccine. Not only that, if every citizen did, ONLY 133,600,000 people would develop antibodies in response to "weakened or dead H1N1 cells". Our immune systems are more intelligent than to be tricked by dead or weak virus cells and ignore the immunization attempt as a false alarm.
So maybe your answer is to hide until a vaccine can be manufactured in enough volume to adminster to those at risk or over 65. Guess what, seniors have what is known as "WANING IMMUNE RESPONSE". Their bodies literally ignore vaccinations. The best case is a DOUBLE DOSE for anyone over 60 to try to scare their bodies into reacting to a vaccination.
So, no...this virus is not going away. A vaccination will not cure us. Our bodies, our health (whether good or bad from self induction or genetics) will decide everything. At one point, the world was divided enough to keep us separate. But there are too many people and our lives are too mobile to even slow a bug down.
Treat others with respect. Care for those who get it. Educate those at risk of it.
But 3 racers and their mechanics who already traveled a few thousand miles to Maribor and are in elite health....not a concern. Not going to help or hurt. If anything, they might get to take a modified straing of Mariborian coronavirus back home to their friends and family elsewhere. Which is what viruses do.
Also, countries like Australia, New Zealand etc. may have curtailed the advance of the virus within their borders, but their methods are unsustainable; All it takes is 1 case to slip through and they're back to square one, so they'll need to keep it up until the virus subsides or a vaccine is developed, neither of which is under their control. They may also have done irrepairable harm to their image as 1st world democracies in the process with their draconian tactics and assaults on innocent citizens.
Whereas countries that dealt effectively with the virus are better set up going forward from this point.
"The death rate is no more significant in terms of per capita rates than the previous seasons' flus"
www.google.com/amp/s/www.deccanchronicle.com/amp/nation/in-other-news/221020/vaccine-to-provide-longer-immunity.html
What's dangerous about covid is that it spreads easier than the regular flu virus, most likely through the air. Masks in public and hand washing are the most important factors, once one person in a household gets it, it's hard for the others to avoid.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.sciencealert.com/a-second-key-used-by-sars-cov-2-to-enter-cells-could-explain-why-it-s-so-infectious/amp
But some science doubters who are exposed to and believe bad information doubt the effectiveness of masks, so everything just keeps getting worse and it keeps spreading. These are typically the same people who are saying covid will mutate, vaccine won't be effective, etc. These people seem to be the #1 reason the problem is growing instead of being controlled like it has in countries where it is taken more seriously.
Mostly useless PCR testing is increasing in every country. Funny enough positive (false positives?) numbers are increasing to.
The clinical tests will have a very low false positive rate, and the rate will be a fixed percentage of tests taken. The number of tests performed per week have been quite stable here, but positive numbers are nevertheless increasing, which indicates increased prevalence.
Clearly, this is a disease that is defined and we know what causes it, we can test for it, and it is new.
We can debate how to deal/respond to it, but let’s do it civilised.
Hint for future reference: If the links to the articles (or their headlines) contain words like 'might' or 'could', then it's not science, and it's likely they're after a boost in ad revenue from gullible, ill-informed hacks such as yourself.
Anyway over the coming years, the worse case numbers will pale in comparison to delayed cancer screenings etc.
"Researchers from the Technical University of Munich in Germany and the University of Helsinki in Finland led a study that discovered a receptor called neuropilin-1 gives the novel coronavirus a leg-up in infecting our tissues.
This particular protein is relatively abundant on cells lining the nasal cavity, making it a piece of cake for the virus to establish a home inside our bodies, raise a virus family, and then spread to a new host.
Earlier this year it was discovered that a receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) helps the coronavirus bind to the surface of cells, while an enzyme called Type II transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2) is crucial for it gaining entry.
This kind of molecular lock-picking does a good job of explaining why both SARS coronaviruses wreak havoc throughout a range of tissues in our bodies, from the lining of our lungs to our digestive tract."
That's called scientific discovery.
As for the other article, covid 19 has not mutated to date. So no speculation there either.
We harp on people dying in these facilities from Covid exposure, but we fail to recognize what any of us with a close relative (and I mean parent or spouse) know all too well that have had to bury a family member after they stayed in one of those places.
The most cruel thing we've done in this world is "shelter" our seniors from love, embrace, conversation, hugs, kisses, hand holding for 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours as they suffer the fate of time alone.
I buried my mother a few years ago. I stood at her side after 13 months of inoperable cancer the moment she took her last breath. To have that time ripped away from here....to think of her dying alone or even looking at me through a window at 9:32pm on September 17th, 3 days before my birthday, 6 days before my fathers...it's unfathomable.
My mother knew she was dying. She would never have wanted to sit locked away, starved of care, love, attention, conversation and warmth. Since February, we have done an utter disgrace and disservice to everyone who has raised us to be better by locking them away like this. To 'protect the dying' from death by denying them love is preposterous.
Hold those you love close, accept that they need you...not your absence. To drag this out is inhumane under the narcissistic pretense that we can control what's happening is sad.
Where in that quote (or even the article) does it support your claim the virus is transmitted 'most likely through the air'?
Cov19 has mutated multiple times, it just hasn't deviated much from the original strain so far:
phys.org/news/2020-08-strains-sars-cov-.html
That doesn't mean it won't in future though- it's mutation rate is only low relative to other diseases like the flu, which definitely does have markedly different strains. So it may only be a matter of time...
Beta Blockers are prescribed the world over for heart issues (the majority self inflicted via diet or bad genetic breeding). Beta Blockers cause the body to produce excess amounts of the B protein that Covid-19 uses to replicate. So not only does bad self induced health compound your ability to fight off the virus, the drug people use to continue to eat garbage and toxify their bodies....that drug helps your body feed the virus.
One key component to dealing with this virus has been that piece of knowledge. In the beginning, it floored people on beta blockers. Now, doctors know to address it, advise their patients on them to take action and although the number of "positive tests per 1000" is going up indicating spread, the "deaths per 1000" is not. That reflects that the medical field understands better how not to kill some people and how to be proactive with others.
Respiratory viruses are transmitted in multiple ways
Infections with respiratory viruses are principally transmitted through three modes: contact, droplet, and airborne.
Contact transmission is infection spread through direct contact with an infectious person (e.g., touching during a handshake) or with an article or surface that has become contaminated. The latter is sometimes referred to as “fomite transmission.”
Droplet transmission is infection spread through exposure to virus-containing respiratory droplets (i.e., larger and smaller droplets and particles) exhaled by an infectious person. Transmission is most likely to occur when someone is close to the infectious person, generally within about 6 feet.
Airborne transmission is infection spread through exposure to those virus-containing respiratory droplets comprised of smaller droplets and particles that can remain suspended in the air over long distances (usually greater than 6 feet) and time (typically hours).
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-sars-cov-2.html
Both countries continually have new cases that are quickly identified and controlled to prevent further spread. Evidence is indicating that keeping a tight check and prevention of virus spread has less economic impact than pushing for normal business activity and subsequent impacts of widespread infection.
Some may consider implemented measures draconian and an assault on the individual, however all have been within legislated and constitutional bounds. I believe Australia and New Zealand fall with-in the group of liberal democracies where there is higher social contract to support the vulnerable and society as a whole.
What is the definition of effectively dealing with the virus for a better future?
Old people die, always have always will, you cannot abolish death.
If things are left wide open people will not wear masks (this has already been proven multiple times), social distance, etc. Virus numbers will jump significantly and a large portion of the people that are going out right now will stay home again. It is a no win situation economically. Either limit interactions, save lives, cause an economic impact or open interactions, cost lives, cause an economic impact.
BTW this is an exact replay of the 1918 Spanish Flu and people's reactions. Even in 1918 there were anti mask leagues, people claiming that the government would use those expanded powers forever, etc, etc, etc.
For our state to open back up to a semblance of normality, we need to have case numbers of 0 (zero) for 2 weeks straight. We've been averaging below 10 for the past week, but it's slowly creeping up, so our hopes of seeing family/friends for Christmas are being dashed.
We did get a handle on cases numbers, no question, we all dug deep and made sacrifices. We've saved a great many people from this potentially lethal virus, but we are most certainly not living freely, not even close.
I should add, the rest of the country is not in nearly as much of a lock down as Melbourne, we're coping the brunt of it down here.
Easy statement to make but very, very rarely ever happens. As they say, talk is cheap.
These impacts will not go away (and will get worse) with ending lockdowns and removing other restrictions, please stop seeing this as 99.8% will be fine. Even if that was the case you end up with enormous amounts of pressure on health services, overflowing hospitals, people staying in and not spending money, businesses going bust,collapsing economy, total lack of other health services for other diseases etc (see N Italy or New York in spring).
It's not about whether most people will be fine (the majority of 80 year olds that catch it will recover), it's about the systemic effects that having this thing moving through the population can and will cause and ameliorating the impact of those effects. Temporarily closing down society to temper the spread and reduce the damage long-term is currently the only game in town until better solutions are developed or even if they are not.
I acknowledge that this does not come without cost, however there is no way forward from here without significant damage, we must try to pick the route with the least damage.
All this is leading to is,
removing privacy laws
huge tax increases
and the privatisation of the NHS.
the clowns at imperial college London need to be criminally charged for the blatant miss information they are publishing.
People die. Food MUST grow. We all seem to forget that without it, anything else of value is nothing.
2020 is a write off but there seems to be a little too much optimism that it'll all be over in 2021.
I do not at all understand this obsession with and absolute fear of something that is a natural part of the world's continuing biology.
dude knows he's been exposed to somebody that has the virus an then goes out drinking.... while he's supposed to be self isolating
Not really sensible behaviour during a pandemic?
Now that one team has pulled out, I suspect many will follow and the inevitable will happen. Let’s be grateful we at least got to see some racing.
There, that's better.
@grundletroll: It's 'going on the piss', not 'going for a piss'. Visit Ireland and see just how many euphemisms (and ways!) there are for getting wasted.
lost in translation :'D
the great British language. Going for a piss, pretty obvious but the slang of 'pissed' here is drunk not angry as in the U.S. So 'out on the piss' is a drinking sesh, pub crawl.
Having to self isolate here means staying indoors for two weeks if a person or the household have symptoms...
So dude wanted the two weeks off work but went out with others from the same shop floor at weekend before he told anyone. So now we have two others self isolating a week later, that's a week of those two being at work potentially infecting others. Only found this out today. So fingers X'ed eh?
I never intended to say its the whole reason this virus is spreading but, behaviours like this and the deniers (that wasnt as bad as the U.S here but is becoming with the second wave 'tier' regulations) is definitely going to hinder controls put in place to fight this thing
They might as well be just another form of bias media
As well as the mentioned economic depression suicides
I know I'm not going 'out on the piss' any time soon
You can’t concentrate your efforts (restrictions) on people that aren’t moving around and mixing (non vectors). The best way to protect those vulnerable people is to make sure that everyone else is being responsible. Bear in mind that all those vulnerable people you’re talking about are looked after by mostly young and fit healthcare workers that potentially can catch the virus from the idiots who don’t seem to want to be careful.
Those healthcare workers have jobs as such, so they have a higher duty of care to their patients. It's their (and their bosses) responsibility to ensure they stay covid-free and safe.
Whatever happened to accountability and common sense...
Thank f*ck. At last someone speaking the truth.
It seems to me that’s governments don’t mind you dying of anything as long as it’s not f*cking COVID. Wise up people we’re all being lied too. Protect the vulnerable and everyone else just crack on.
I work on an oilfield, we have 700 people that all share a camp and a single area to get food. The owner is strict about mask wearing and social distancing and there is hand sanitizer everywhere. The 700 people change out every 2 to four weeks offset so that there are 500 people a week flying into the camp. We have had 2 confirmed cases since this whole thing began, 2!!
Masks, distancing and hygiene works when everybody follows it 100%.
Your experience isn't unusual btw. Most (nearly all in fact) of the people I know that I've spoken with don't know a single case personally. I myself know only 1. Caught the virus in hospital while being treated for life-threatening illness and subsequently passed away.
A nearby field of similar size had an outbreak of 16 cases. It was caused by one work group ignoring the rules. Not a single person outside of that work caught it despite flying in a plane, paying them in a corridor, attending in line for food etc in proximity to the infected because everybody was wearing masks 100% of the time.
Look at the outbreak at the Whitehouse where 1 person spread it to 35 in a matter of days despite regular testing but with no mask use. We had 30-40 cases from a single party at my local university.
As I said before if EVERYBODY followed simple guidance we significantly slow the spread and we can't live a semi normal life while doing it.
Regardless, everyone knew that covid pandemic would get out of control again soon, so UCI should have known too.
The center region (where Lousã makes a very small part) is much better with less than 5 times the numbers of the north region and a third of the Lisbon numbers.
??????????????? ????
I'd wish to not see them participating in any future races..but, yeah, non-mtbers keep buying thier junk bikes so, unfortunatelly, the have the funds to do it.
Go home cube!; start making quality bikes or gtfout of the bike industry!
Correction..it cube truth, not BS!
And, ppl in general, deserve to know the truth!, except you even if it would slamed you in the face, you would still have problem recognising it. I do hope you're spending all your money on cube #rap, as someone needs go keep filling those bank accounts.
No one cares about your clearly subjective opinion on Cube and no one cares about you. So please stop polluting Mtb sites with your bitterness, and have a discussion with your kinky wife naughty wife...
Can you f*ck off? Nobody is buying your bullshit
So yeah, you say BS...I'm saying you and other downvoters are ignorant, trump voter type of persons at your best. Only this type of person can blatantly ignore the actual truth.
Stay safe my friend, this world needs more of you!