For a long time, we’ve needed to clean the air like we clean the water. And that became more obvious when COVID vaccines lost effectiveness so quickly in 2021 and 2022. Better late than never, I’m happy to see the Intercept Fund getting going. blog.interceptfund.com/p/ending-res...

Ending respiratory infections

Introducing Intercept, a $500M bet to make respiratory infections like colds and flu a thing of the past.

blog.interceptfund.com

As of yesterday, with a merge into the master branch of github.com/nextstrain/n..., SARS-CoV-2 lineage XFG.3.4.1 has been designated Nextstrain clade 26B.

I’m concerned about Jiang et al’s new report of immune cell population impacts for 20 months and counting after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, and I note the authors call out that this wasn’t seen with SARS-CoV-1. See www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... h/t AJ Leonardi.

Persistent Attenuation of Lymphocyte Subsets After Mass SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Growing evidence suggests that lymphocyte subsets are declined in COVID-19 patients, but it is unclear if these alterations persist after widespread e…

sciencedirect.com

GISAID is now blocking genomic sequencing access to critical resources like Nextstrain, Covspectrum, Outbreak-info, & others. This makes us less safe, as live tracking of viral evolution remains critical for assessment of emerging threats. This needs to be escalated.

Ryan Hisner@ryanhisner.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Bad. No justification, no communication, no standard procedures for making changes—just arbitrary pronouncements cutting off access to some of the most valuable resources we have.

The US Government shutdown is already disrupting air traffic in the USA. And if the shutdown doesn’t end, a program to provide air service to smaller communities runs out of money this coming Sunday. Source: www.wfaa.com/article/synd....

Transportation secretary says government shutdown adds stress on air traffic controllers

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the government shutdown is putting more stress on air traffic controllers who already have an extremely stressful job.

wfaa.com

How is this going to play in farm country in the USA where Trump was so popular? From Fortune via MSN, “Farmer says ‘we’re in a very dire situation’ ahead of harvest—with zero soybean orders from China, historically the largest buyer” www.msn.com/en-us/money/...

Recent Pango lineage designation note updates such as github.com/cov-lineages... brought my attention to the emergence of the N.iORF3 aka N*M210 aka N* extended Transcription Regulation Sequence (TRS-B) enhancing mutations A28877T, G28878C several times in XFG. (1/3)

From The Atlantic, “COVID Revisionism Has Gone Too Far” www.msn.com/en-us/news/w... And the pendulum swings…

A question: How is requiring posting of the Ten Commandments in Texas public school classrooms consistent with Article 1, Section 6 of the Texas Constitution: “no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious society or mode of worship.” statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/...?

This is interesting: A second COVID protein, the main protease, triggers blood clotting. This protein is *not* in vaccines used in developed countries, but it is highly conserved in coronaviruses including common cold coronaviruses. Ref Pagotto et al, www.nature.com/articles/s42....

The main protease (Mpro) from SARS-CoV-2 triggers plasma clotting in vitro by activating coagulation factors VII and FXII - Communications Biology

SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) directly activates coagulation by cleaving factors VII and XII, showing a broader protease specificity and revealing a novel mechanism linking COVID-19 infection to thr...

nature.com

Don’t miss that *influenza* awakens dormant cancer cells in lungs (Chia et al, “Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs”, Nature (2025), www.nature.com/articles/s41...). Maybe we need to be more concerned about *all* respiratory viruses.

Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs - Nature

Mouse models show that respiratory infections from viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 can trigger metastasis of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs, a finding supported by epidemiological d...

nature.com

America, we may be approaching a Strauss-Howe “second regeneracy”. Current Republican vs Democrat, rural vs urban polarization may be changing to alignment by accountability vs impunity, justice vs exploitation, for vs against release of the Epstein Files. 1/6

SARS-CoV-2 isn’t the only neurotropic betacoronavirus. Common cold human betacoronavirus OC43 is also neurotropic. Reference Arbour et al, "Neuroinvasion by human respiratory coronaviruses", Journal of Virology (2000), doi.org/10.1128/jvi.....

Neuroinvasion by Human Respiratory Coronaviruses | Journal of Virology

ABSTRACT Human coronaviruses (HCoV) cause common colds but can also infect neural cell cultures. To provide definitive experimental evidence for the neurotropism and neuroinvasion of HCoV and its possible association with multiple sclerosis (MS), we have ...

doi.org

Recently I’ve been examining the question “On a per-case basis for the same acute severity, is the rate of post-acute cognitive or neurological syndromes, or post-acute syndromes in general, significantly higher after COVID than after other infectious illnesses such as flu?” 1/8

If this trend continues, it could be huge. If Republicans start losing Texas, they probably can’t win the Presidency. And this might also put pressure on Texas’s Senate seats. www.newsweek.com/donald-trump...

Donald Trump's approval rating goes negative in Texas

A new poll delivered a warning sign to Republicans about Trump's approval in the Lone Star State.

newsweek.com

FINALLY Democrats are putting out HARD-HITTING ads. WATCH AND SHARE: #MAGAKidnappers

Actually, from the last period that was not nowcasted, 26th of April - 10th of May, there are 815 non GBW samples on GISAID. Of those 28 were NB.1.8.1*, 64 XFG* and only 5 XFC*. California had 16 NB.1.8.1*, 7 XFG* New York City, 3 NB.1.8.1, 53 XFG* So, the region matters! New

Newsweek headline “Why Are So Many Children Getting Long COVID?” www.newsweek.com/why-are-so-m... I’m old enough to remember when the general public was assured that COVID wouldn’t harm children. Apparently that assurance was false.

Los Angeles, all protesters need to stay peaceful no matter the provocation. The Administration is likely trying to provoke violence. Don’t give it to them. Model your inner MLK Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela. Heed Robert Reich in this article www.msn.com/en-us/news/p....

I recommend paying attention to NB.1.8.1 “Nimbus” while not ignoring XFG. After a long relative lull, world probably has at least 2 rising variants which may battle especially in Europe and the Americas.

Josette Schoenmakers@josetteschoenma.bsky.social · last yr.

I have made an overview of the battle between XFG and NB.1.8.1 in the world Samples collected on/after the 12th of May NB.1.8.1 with a very high percentage in some SouthEast-Asian countries, and big in Oceania as well XFG big in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh Mixed in North America and Europe 1/2

As NB.1.8.1 “Nimbus” and XFG rise, people need to realize the risk of COVID-induced organ damage in all ages. This graphic is from Ewing et al, “Review of organ damage from COVID and Long COVID: a disease with a spectrum of pathology”, Medical Review (2024), www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi....

As NB.1.8.1 “Nimbus” and XFG rise, despite the gaslighting propaganda yes children can be impacted especially by post-acute illness. This graphic is from Gross et al, “Long COVID in Young Children, School-Aged Children, and Teens”, JAMA Pediatrics (2025), jamanetwork.com/journals/jam....

US legacy national news network CBS has a story up on COVID variant NB.1.8.1. www.cbsnews.com/news/us-repo...

U.S. reports cases of new COVID variant NB.1.8.1 behind surge in China

Authorities in Hong Kong say COVID-19 levels are the worst in at least a year.

cbsnews.com

Sars cov 2 variant update: In this week @corneliusroemer.bsky.social and XZ spotted a couple of lineages with very divergent spikes:

Designation of lineage NB.1.8.1 as Nextstrain Clade 25B has been merged to the main branch. I would consider this the official designation of Clade 25B. See github.com/nextstrain/n....

I’m looking more deeply at SARS-CoV-2 lineage XFG since it appears it might be growing. It has two branches: a minor one with S:H445P and a major one with S:H445R. The 445R branch also has a subbranch with ORF1b:K2557R which from Bloom and Neher estimates may be significant. 1/6

Texas #measles cases from the West Texas outbreak are up to 597 with 62 hospitalized. Source Dallas’s WFAA local news www.wfaa.com/article/news.... Note that the Collin County exposures maybe from a resident of a different county, and there is a known case in an adjacent county.

Person with measles visited three North Texas stores while still infectious, officials warn

A person who tested positive for measles visited three stores in Plano over a two-day period.

wfaa.com

And the West Texas #measles outbreak may have spread to Dallas-Fort Worth. From Dallas’s WFAA local news. www.wfaa.com/article/news...

Measles case reported in Rockwall County may be connected to West Texas outbreak, officials say

A confirmed case of measles was identified in Rockwall County, health officials said. The case may be connected to the outbreak in West Texas.

wfaa.com

20 more #measles cases in the Texas outbreak since April 11. That’s a total of 561 with 58 hospitalized. Source: Texas Department of State Health Services www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/...

Stop saying “post covid”. People are confusing the end of the public health emergency with the end of the pandemic. The pandemic is not over. “During COVID” is now. If we want to end it, we need to first acknowledge this fact. Then mask up, clean the air & develop better vaccines & treatments.

Suggesting the world is “post COVID” contributes to an unwitting shift in research priorities

bmj.com