Boris Bare-Faced!

Boris Johnson has been pictured travelling on a train without a face mask only 24 hours after he apologised for neglecting to wear one during a hospital visit.

The latest photograph was taken on Thursday as Boris Johnson travelled from Oxford Road Station in Manchester on the 3.55 pm service to Warrington Bank Quay during a busy week for the Prime Minister.

Just 24 hours earlier, at a meeting of Parliament’s Liaisons committee held at 4 pm on Wednesday, Boris Johnson was apologising for failing to wear a mask during a hospital visit in Northumberland on Monday.

Passengers were horrified to see the premier was not wearing a face-covering on Thursday despite Government guidance advising the use of masks in confined places and on public transport.

A source told a newspaper outlet that they got on the carriage and half was taped off, and a large crowd boarded the blocked off side, under careful supervision.

They said that people were surrounding the Prime Minister and a few of his people were noticeably not wearing a mask, unlike the rest of the passengers.

The incident came 24 hours after Boris Johnson had apologised for not wearing a mask during a hospital visit last week.

The Prime Minister was criticised after he was photographed without a face covering during a trip to Hexham General Hospital.

It emerged that Boris Johnson had to be told by NHS staff to put on a mask after he posed with nurses without a face covering.

He declared on Monday that he wears a mask wherever he’s required to under coronavirus guidance as he refused to apologise, and it wasn’t until days later that Boris Johnson did say sorry as he was grilled by Parliament’s powerful Liaison Committee at 4 pm on Wednesday.

Boris Johnson was questioned on the matter by senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper and he said that as for him not wearing a mask in Hexham Hospital, which they’d wrapped up in his general litany of crime, he wanted to say that it was barely 30 seconds when he wasn’t wearing a mask, and he said that he’d stepped out of the room, mistakenly not wearing it, and then put it back on as soon as he realised he’d made the mistake.

He apologised for it and said that most images of his visit to the hospital would confirm that he was properly masked throughout the remainder of the visit and he was masked on the way into the visit and he thanked everyone for allowing him to clear things up.

Boris Johnson never misses a chance to reduce his popularity.

And in his head he’s already had COVID and vaccines, so why should he bother with a mask? Did anyone tell him that it’s not like chickenpox immunity, the vaccine doesn’t last forever, he could get it again, but it looks like he doesn’t care because the educated clown is always breaking the rules, so this is nothing new.

But Boris Johnson said that people need to respect those around them, particularly in confined spaces such as trains, and he said he would only choose not to wear one if the train was quite empty. This train looked rather packed to me, yet Boris was there with his huge mouth gaping open while those around him were wearing masks, which makes Boris Johnson a national disgrace.

He expects people to follow his rules but he won’t do it himself. I think it’s time for Boris Johnson to bail out gracefully now, and there’s something reassuring about a leader who leads by example, but he’s not one of them!

A 211-Year-Old Amendment Could Prevent Meghan Markle From Becoming President Of The United States

The Duchess of Sussex could be barred from running for US President by a little known constitutional amendment made 211 years ago.

According to experts, a tweak was made to the constitution in 1810 to prevent anyone who holds a title of nobility given from a foreign power from holding office.

The centuries-old amendment was initially intended to prevent Napoleon’s nephew from seeking power after his brother married an American socialite Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Patterson amid speculation their son might run for office.

A newspaper outlet said it could be revived to stop any plans for the Duchess to launch a leadership bid, and although Meghan Markle has never talked of a genuine intention to run for office, biographer Tom Bower previously claimed the possibility of a presidential campaign was plausible and possible.

The Duchess has also been politically active since marrying into the Royal Family, striving to influence a $1.75 trillion infrastructure plan to include paid leave for new parents and writing an open lobbyist letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asking for it to be made a national priority.

It comes as Royal Family aides and critics have argued the Duchess is using her title inappropriately when it comes to political affairs.

US politicians say Meghan Markle presented herself as The Duchess of Sussex, leading to criticism she was using tactics of an aspiring politician and adopting a ruthless streak to try and influence Biden’s Build Back Better bill.

Her allies, though, say this is her legal name after changing it from Meghan Markle when she married Prince Harry in May 2018, and constitutional experts said there’s no technical reason why she couldn’t run for presidency under her title, despite a lack of precedent.

Experts highlighted an amendment named the Titles of Nobility Amendment, made in 1810, that was introduced and established in Congress.

It states anyone who accepts, claims, receives or holds a title of nobility given by a foreign power is barred from holding federal office.

The amendment was sent out to individual state legislatures, three quarters of whom required a vote in support for it to be passed as law.

The required number was 14, though the amendment was subsequently never passed. It was never thrown out either and has remained on the table for the last 211 years.

But even if she does run for President, no one will probably vote for her – a goldfish would get more votes. Mind you, loads of people voted for Donald Trump, and the only way that this woman works is with an inflatable reality that she inflicts on everyone like a colossal headache.

But perhaps she should be allowed to run for the presidency because America could do with some fresh blood, and she’s far from stupid, but she is calculated and cunning, and if nothing else it would be a good laugh to see how she fairs out there with all the other Pirahna’s.

If she couldn’t handle the pressures of being a royal, is she up to handling the pressure of being a President? I believe that she could because she’s an American and in her own comfort zone, and some American’s would vote for her because they have a history of putting celebrities into power, and if they can put Donald Trump in as a supreme leader, then Meghan Markle’s in with a chance.

Although I’m not sure what makes her think she might be a suitable candidate, and what is the requirement for becoming President these days? But then I suppose it’s worked in the past.

Joe Biden’s Physician Declares Him Fit For Duty In First Public Medical Report

Joe Biden’s fit for duty, after the president’s routine medical exam, which included a colonoscopy and an extremely thorough neurologic exam. So now, he’s fighting fit to fully execute all of his duties without any exceptions or accommodations, and that was what Dr Kevin O’Connor, the president’s longtime physician wrote in a six-page memorandum to press secretary Jen Psaki, which was released by the White House.

In the first public medical report of Joe Biden’s presidency, Dr Kevin O’Connor addressed a couple of items that had become the topic of public disclosure, which was the president’s notable increase in coughing and clearing his throat and whether his stiffer gait was perhaps a symptom of a neurological problem, such as a stroke.

And he said that there were no findings that would have been consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, and he concluded that anything that was going on was fairly insignificant.

However, the doctor acknowledged that Joe Biden’s increasing frequency and severity of throat clearing and coughing during speaking engagements over the last few months did justify some thorough examination.

The cause was determined to be gastroesophageal reflux, which has him clear his throat more frequently, and it also adds to his occasional cough and sinus obstruction, and his symptoms worsen after meals.

The president, who turned 79 on Saturday, also has a mobile gait that’s perceptibly stiffer and less fluid than it was a year or so ago, but the neurological exam found no indications of stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis, but it did find a mild peripheral neuropathy in both feet.

O’Connor wrote that a combination of significant spinal arthritis, post-fracture limp and compensation and mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet would be the reasons for his subtle movements.

The doctor noted that Joe Biden admits being stiffer in the day but that it eases during the day, which is attributed to the number of orthopaedic and sports-related traumas the president has had over the years, including when he wore a boot on his right foot last year, and the doctor said that Joe Biden would likely benefit from some shoe orthotics and was in physical therapy.

Joe Biden’s colonoscopy discovered a benign appear polyp that was quickly removed.

No cognitive assessment was done on Joe Biden. What Dr O’Connor said was that he completed a thorough neurological exam, but he didn’t say if he’d performed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which should have been done.

Fit for duty, does anyone buy that one for a moment? I don’t even suppose his own administration believe it, and no signs of a neurological disorder, I’m sure half the population of Americans would want a second opinion.

Dementia is a loss of cognitive functioning, such as thinking, remembering and reasoning, to such an extent that it hinders a person’s daily life and activities. It also varies in severity from the mildest stage, when it’s just starting to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when a person has to depend entirely on another person for basic living activities.

Signs and symptoms of dementia result when once-healthy neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain stop working, lose connections with other brain cells and die, and while everyone loses some neurons as they age, people with dementia experience far greater loss.

The symptoms of dementia can vary and may include:

Experiencing memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion
Difficulty speaking, understanding and expressing thoughts, or reading and writing
Wandering and getting lost in a familiar neighbourhood
Trouble handling money responsibly and paying bills
Repeating questions
Using unusual words to refer to familiar objects
Taking longer to complete normal daily tasks
Losing interest in normal daily activities or events
Hallucinating or experiencing delusions or paranoia
Acting impulsively
Not caring about other people’s feelings
Losing balance and problems with movement

To diagnose dementia, a doctor would first evaluate whether a person has any underlying, potentially treatable condition that may be linked to cognitive problems, such as a physical exam to measure blood pressure and other vital signs, as well as laboratory tests of blood and other fluids to check levels of various chemicals, hormones, and vitamins, which can help uncover or rule out possible causes of symptoms.

Then they would do cognitive and neurological tests, brain scans, psychiatric evaluations, genetic testing and blood tests to determine if that person is suffering from dementia, although I’m sure we never thought it would be used on our president. Oh, I forgot, not all of it has!

Bribes Of £1,000 Are Being Offered To Families In Cornwall

Families are being offered up to £1,200 to take their loved ones out of the hospital in a bid to ease a growing healthcare crisis.

Last month the Royal Cornwall Hospital declared a critical incident after up to 100 people were waiting to be seen in the emergency department with 25 ambulances queueing outside.

Local trusts are now offering grants for taking friends and relatives out of the hospital who have no clinical reason to be there.

The NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group covers Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

It said reasons for the pressure include the continuing impact of COVID 19, pressure on staffing, the need for social care surpassing the available capacity to provide care for people away from the hospital.

A one-off grant of up to £1,200, through the Government’s national hospital discharge programme, is open for anyone who’s able to leave the hospital but requires a bit of additional care and support to return home.

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust medical director Dr Allister Grant said that patients should be picked up by friends or relatives as soon as they ask them to collect because the quicker they get someone home the faster they can give the bed to another person who really needs it.

Other measures reported include using a hotel to house patients and recruiting fire brigade drivers to assist the ambulance service to cope with extremely high demand.

This is what happens when the Government mandates vaccines for care home workers and then gets them fired for not having the jab, which doesn’t prevent you from passing on COVID, then older people are stuck in hospitals unable to get the care they need as more care homes can’t take people in.

And it now seems that people are paying National Insurance for the privilege of being made to feel guilty for using it, but of course, the Government have got to create some space for the new arrivals that are going to swamp the NHS, just like they’re swamping hotels.

Years ago there were convalescent hospitals that looked after people who had just come out of the hospital and needed a little extra care before they went home, but they were done away with for whatever reason, now they should reinstate them!

Elderly people in hospitals are not bed blockers, although they might not clinically need an NHS hospital bed, but they need a visiting care package or adapted home care, or even residential care, but these services are almost impossible to access, so the elderly through no fault of their own end up blocking NHS hospital beds because there’s simply nowhere to put them, and there’s no incentive from the Government or councils to do anything about it.

But what happened to all those Nightingale hospitals? They opened and then closed, and it looks like they were just built to frighten us.

Some elderly people have families that can look after them, but many don’t, and some families are too sick to look after their parents, but then what do you expect when we have to work until we’re 68, so if people are expected to work until they’re almost in their graves, how are they expected to look after a parent?

So now, the elderly are being sent home to die alone with no one to care for them, that’s very compassionate of Boris Johnson, but then I guess it would ease the pension bill for him.

95-Year-Old Queen Elizabeth Marks Her 74th Wedding Anniversary

The Queen has poignantly reached her first wedding anniversary without her late husband the Duke of Edinburgh.

The difficult milestone, seven months after Philip died at the age of 99, would have seen the royal duo celebrate 74 years of marriage.

It’s also a month since the Queen was admitted to hospital overnight for preliminary examinations and ordered by her royal doctors to rest.

The 95-year-old, who also sprained her back and pulled out of attending the Remembrance Sunday service, has only been carrying out light duties since her October 20 hospital stay, including a face to face audience this week with the outgoing military chief General Sir Nick Carter.

However, recent reports suggest the Queen is determined to attend the joint christenings of her great-grandchildren in Windsor.

According to a newspaper outlet, she told her courtiers that she was set on being present as her granddaughters Princess Eugenie, 31 and Zara Tindall, 40, christen their babies at the All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park.

It’s thought that she will make an 11th-hour decision and was taking advice from her doctor, with a source saying she’s keen on being there because she knows it’s important for her children and great-grandchildren.

Princess Elizabeth married the dashing Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.

Their enduring relationship lasted the longest of any British monarch and Philip was at the Queen’s side throughout the decades, supporting her as she dedicated herself to her role as head of state.

Following his death in April, the Queen said she and her family were in a period of great sadness, but that she was comforted by the tributes paid to him, and she said they’d been genuinely touched and continued to be reminded that Philip had such an amazing impact on many people during his life.

Philip’s funeral was held during coronavirus restrictions with the numbers strictly limited and the final goodbye taking place entirely inside the confines of Windsor Castle.

The Queen who sat alone, socially distanced from her family as she mourned.

In the days after the duke’s death, the Palace issued a photograph from the royal family’s private photo albums of the Queen and Philip relaxing together, sitting on the grass at the Coyles of Muick, a beauty spot on the Balmoral estate.

I’m sure that the Queen misses Philip terribly and it always looked like he made her laugh.

Knock Off Christmas

Police have seized an extraordinary haul of knock-off designer goods, unsafe toys and hot products in pre-Christmas raids.

More than 17,500 items were impounded by police and public bodies from shops on Oxford Street, London, in a single day.

The multi-agency Operation Jade saw four souvenir and sweet shops raided on Thursday night in the famous central London street, which has about 300 shops.

Heather Acton, Westminster City Council’s cabinet member for communities and regeneration said that Oxford Street is the nation’s high street and that their shoppers should be able to trust the products they’re buying in the city that are being described on the tin.

She said the quantity and variety of goods seized by their officers were startling, and that many of those goods were unsafe and certainly unhealthy, and she said that from cheap imitations of fashionable commodities to mislabelled tobacco and even psychoactive substances it was essential that they protect their customers and get those products off the shelves.

And she said that this Christmas was a make or break for many high street shops and that checking retailers would support genuine businesses and protect the reputation of the West End as a leading destination for shoppers.

Trading standards officers confiscated 11,000 goods including hazardous toys, counterfeit clothing and nicotine products incorrectly marked and with high nicotine content. The police also impounded two bags of food that had more than the permitted legal limit of THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, and 4,000 items being sold by an unregistered food business operator.

Some 2,500 souvenirs were taken from unregistered businesses and unlicensed street traders.

Meanwhile, health and safety officers served three notices for hazardous electrical goods and poor standards of safety inside premises, and it’s not the first time police have confiscated such a large haul.

Police in Manchester seized an estimated £500 million worth of fake designer goods weighing more than 200 tons from 55 storage units across Strangeways, in the north of the city, in September.

Among the assortment of items were suspected counterfeit footwear, clothing, handbags, watches, makeup, sunglasses and headphones.

Fake brand names, which are frequently imported separately to be stitched onto the counterfeit clothing and shoes, were also recovered.

Two counterfeit perfume factories were also found as well as the chemicals used to create the fake fragrances.

The operation took place with help from the City of London Police’s Intellectual Crime Property Unit and the UK Border Force.

Remember the TV show? “No income tax, no VAT”. Well, it just proves that these people that are selling think that people are real plonkers.

Oxford Street isn’t a place where you want to shop anymore, aside from the bigger stores because lockdown has destroyed the pleasure of shopping there with all those vulgar tat shops selling items to those that are silly enough to buy them.

These are just dodgy shops run by dodgy people, but the councils do nothing, apart from another fine to fill in their dodgy council pockets – God Bless Hooky Street.

But it’s not unusual tradesmen or market traders selling the usual knock-off rubbish so that they can avoid paying tax – it’s the same story every year and nothing will stop it, especially now that we’re allowing boat people into the country.

There are dozens of shops in big cities and it seems that the police close them down every couple of years, but they still open up again selling the same fake designer clothes, trainers, football shirts et cetera, but mostly a blind eye is turned.

You, Will, Receive Six Points On Your License If You Use Your Phone While Driving

Ministers announced that drivers will shortly encounter £200 fines and six points on their licence if they so much as touch their phone while at the wheel.

Tougher laws taking effect early next year will make phone use while driving prohibited in almost all cases.

Touching the screen to scroll a music playlist, browse the internet, take a picture or play a mobile game will all be covered by a ban early next year.

The rigorous rules will also apply when stopped at a red light or stuck in traffic.

The only significant difference is that motorists will still be able to use their phone as a sat nav as long as it’s secured in a holder and hands-free calls. Mobile payments at drive-through restaurants or on toll roads will also be allowed.

But drivers performing one of these actions could still be prosecuted if the police find them not in proper control of their vehicle.

The changes strengthen existing laws that prohibit texting or calling while driving.

The move was first announced last year but then stalled. Ministers have now stated that it will now happen early next year, with the Highway Code also being updated.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes would make it easier to prosecute motorists who disregard the rules, and he said that too many deaths and injuries happen whilst mobile phones are being held.

He said that by making it easier to prosecute people illegally using their phone at the wheel, they’re ensuring the law is drawn into the 21st century while further protecting all road users.

And he said that while our roads continue to be the safest in the world, they will continue working tirelessly to make them safer, including through their award-winning THINK! campaign, which challenges social norms amongst high-risk motorists.

The Daily Mail’s End The Mobile Madness campaign has called for tougher punishments for motorists who carelessly put the lives of others at risk by using their phones.

Plans for a blanket ban on using mobiles while driving were first mooted two years ago, but following a public consultation, it discovered that 81 per cent of people were in favour, but the law has been fine-tuned to include a small number of exceptions.

The Highway Code will explain the new rules and make it clear that using a phone even in stationary traffic is forbidden.

Sadly, there will be some pretty vexed drivers sitting in a 5-mile queue for four hours that just want to ring home. This is just criminal.

Not so long ago I was saying that it was difficult to get out of bed in the morning without violating one law or another, and there doesn’t seem to be any common sense anymore, and there’s a huge distinction between sitting in traffic using your phone to when your driving and texting, and there are already laws in place to deal with hazardous driving and driving without due care.

However, the ergonomics of car control systems are now equally beguiling with tiny and hard to find fiddly little buttons. Remember the days when heater controls were nice and simple to find, with round dials or big slidders? Piloting an Airbus and driving a car are becoming indistinguishable now and so very distracting.

Infotainment systems are extremely distracting and they’re way over complicated and can cause numerous accidents and yet they’re legal, and it’s stupid that on many, to just put the heater up requires changing several screens. Basic functions should be by switches and buttons.

A Nurse Is Jailed For Using A Dying Patient’s Bank Card

A hospital nurse was imprisoned for 14 months after she went on a spending binge with a dying patient’s bank card.

Leanne Wallace, 40, targeted weak and vulnerable Leslie Rushworth, 84, as he lay gravely ill with problems including pneumonia and anorexia.

Teesside Crown Court was told that whilst he was under her care, she took a bank card from his wallet and used it to pay off a £900 loan, purchase a £699 bed, spent £74 on wallpaper and bought items on Amazon.

Days later Leslie Rushworth was transported from the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton to a hospice, where he died.

The judge who imprisoned her said that Leanne Wallace had damaged the reputation of care workers in this country.

The offences came to light after Leslie Rushworth’s son noticed a message from the bank on his father’s phone about suspected fraud.

He initially dismissed it as spam, but the family investigated when further messages followed.

He found the order for the bed and found it was scheduled to be delivered to one of his father’s nurses.

Leanne Wallace initially denied responsibility and the court learned she’d wiped data from her phone.

She then lied by claiming Leslie Rushworth had graciously offered to pay her loan, and after talking about her needing a new bed he bought one for her.

Police found no proof of searches for any of the items on the patient’s phone or iPad.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said all of the money had since been returned to his family, but that the crimes had a significant impact on the family in the last few days of their father’s life.

Leanne Wallace, of Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud by abuse of position when she first arrived in court last month.

Stephen Constantine, in mitigation, said his client was disgusted, devastated and disappointed with her behaviour and she’d shown some measure of understanding and regret and the upset and pain that she’d caused Leslie Rushworth’s family.

Stephen Constantine said it occurred when Leanne Wallace faced financial difficulties following the breakdown of her marriage.

She’s now lost her job at the hospital but has a new role as a carer.

Passing sentence, Judge Howard Crowson said that it was a shocking abuse of trust and that she was selfish and that she’d ruined the families final hours with their father.

Stealing from someone on their death bed is inexcusable, especially when it’s a nurse doing this, but then I guess there’s a rotten egg in every profession.

This was a nurse that got fired from her job and now she’s working as a carer. How on earth did she get that position with theft allegations dangling over her?

Sadly, it brings nurses and carers into question, and anyone who abuses the trust placed in them by vulnerable patients should have far longer sentences.

Of course, there are many exceptional nurses and carers out there, but it only takes a few rotten apples, and she should never be employed in the care sector again, and it just makes you question how many thieves in hospitals and care facilities get away with their misdeeds.

But of course, far worse was probably going on in these places during the pandemic because they knew that their families were being kept at arm’s length, and you can wager that this won’t be the last scandal that we see.

Mafia-Linked Union Boss Jimmy Hoffa Under Investigation

FBI agents have searched a former landfill site in New Jersey in the hope of finding the final resting place of union boss Jimmy Hoffa, whose 1975 disappearance was told in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated film The Irishman.

Jimmy Hoffa was born in Indiana but lived in the Detroit region since he was a boy and had a cottage on Lake Orion, 40 miles north of downtown Detroit.

On July 30, 1975, he told his wife Josephine that he would be back at 4 pm to cook steaks for dinner, and headed out for a meeting at the Machus Red Fox restaurant 20 miles away, in Bloomfield township.

He called Josephine several hours later, annoyed that he’d been stood up. He was never seen again and his green Pontiac Grand Ville was discovered in the parking lot of the restaurant the next day.

For nearly 50 years police have been trying to discover where Jimmy Hoffa, who was declared dead in 1982, was buried.

On Thursday it emerged that the FBI in October unearthed a site in New Jersey, 650 miles from where he was last seen.

Special Agent Mara R Schneider, a spokeswoman said that FBI personnel from the Newark and Detroit field offices completed the survey and that data is currently being examined.

A newspaper outlet reported that the exploration, on October 25 and 26, took place in Jersey City, beside an old landfill site, and the material from the dig is currently being examined, with the hope of ending one of the most shocking mysteries of the last half-century.

Jimmy Hoffa, who was played by Al Pacino in Martin Scorsese’s film, was an immensely influential union leader whose links to the mob terrified Bobby Kennedy, the president’s brother and attorney general.

Jimmy Hoffa at the time, as James Neff penned in his 2015 book Vendetta, was the permanent president of the biggest, worst, and most powerful labour union in American history and the union boss was convicted of bribery, conspiracy and jury tampering, and was in jail from 1967-71.

On his release, he tried to return to his dominant union position and continue his mafia ties, in particular his connections to Anthony Provenzo, a capo in the Genovese crime family.

Anthony Provenzo was the head of a teamsters association in Union City, New Jersey.

The mafia leader was unimpressed by Jimmy Hoffa’s attempt to return to his former ways, and connections between the two men soured.

If Jimmy Hoffa was killed, then I can’t see the mafia risking transporting one of the most infamous men at the time halfway across the country, just to bury him in New Jersey, and they clearly didn’t want him to be discovered, so they probably didn’t bury him.

The thing is, the people that were involved would be in their late sixties now and if they’ve not informed in all that time, I suspect they’ll not be talking now.

Is there any point in looking for Hoffa now? Let’s face it, those resources could be going to areas that are needed. It’s going to be one of those mysteries where everyone’s guessing, but no one really knows.

I would assume that anyone that could be implicated in Jimmy Hoffa’s demise is probably already dead, so this is a continuing waste of money, time and resources on a wild goose chase for Jimmy Hoffa’s remains, and instead could be diverting personnel and money into finding missing children and people.

We should just let him be because sometimes you just need enduring mysteries to keep the pulse going.

The FBI Launches An Urgent Investigation After Smallpox Is Found At Merck

Multiple federal agencies are looking into 15 vials, including five alarmingly labelled as smallpox, that was found at a pharmaceutical laboratory outside of Philadelphia.

According to Centres for Disease Control, the vials, 10 of which were labelled vaccinia after the virus used to make smallpox vaccines, were discovered by a laboratory worker who was cleaning out a freezer.

Smallpox was annihilated in 1980 with a successful mass vaccination campaign after it killed a predicted 300 million people in the 20th century alone.

Samples of the dangerous virus are only supposed to be kept in two labs, the CDC headquarters in Atlanta and the Vector Institute in Koltsovo, Russia.

The FBI and the CDC are now investigating the discovery.

The two agencies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from a newspaper outlet.

The finding was first reported by Yahoo News, which obtained a copy of an alert sent to the Department of Homeland Security marked For Official Use Only.

It’s not known how the vials ended up at the Merck facility in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania or if they do contain the virus.

After they were found, the vials were secured quickly and the facility was put on lockdown but was later lifted, and a source told NBC10 that Merck was in the process of figuring out why it was there.

Merck didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from a newspaper outlet, and a CDC spokesperson told Yahoo that there was no evidence that anyone had been exposed to the small number of frozen vials.

It was said that the frozen labelled Smallpox was unexpectedly spotted by a laboratory worker while cleaning out a freezer in a facility that conducts vaccine research in Pennsylvania.

According to WCAU, the discovery took place at the Merck Upper Gwynedd facility in North Wales, approximately 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The spokesperson said CDC, its Administration partner, and law enforcement are investigating the matter, said that the vials’ contents appeared intact and that the laboratory worker who found the vials was wearing gloves and a face mask, and that further details would be given as they were available.

The incident is likely to renew questions about what should be done with the world’s Smallpox samples, which are kept in only two labs in the world.

According to the CDC, Smallpox is an infection caused by the variola virus. Patients develop a temperature and a unique, progressive skin rash.

And even though Smallpox was eradicated in 1980, it continues to be a possible means of biowarfare and bioterrorism, and it’s deemed a category A organism, which is easy to disseminate and spread from person to person.

Merck probably has old samples buried at the back of their freezers. The problem is, we trust these people to be above and beyond our mistakes, and they’re supposed to keep stringent controls that are monitored and catalogued, not buried at the back of a freezer, which makes you question what other world killer viruses are being left undocumented.

This is a huge dominating vaccine pharma company. Of course, someone might have wanted to damage its reputation by planting something that shouldn’t have been there, but then there’s no holds barred in the big pharma world. Smear, defame and put your competitors out of business.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started