CDC doctors on coronavirus mutations: ‘No evidence’ that these variants cause more severe disease

The new strain has been identified in Colorado, California….and China.

In December, I noted that there were questions about the potential severity of the disease caused by new coronavirus mutations that were detected in the United Kingdom.

Now it is being reported that doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is no evidence that the newly detected strains cause a more severe version of the disease or a higher risk of death.

“It is important to know that at this time there is no evidence that either of these variants cause more severe disease or increases the risk of death,” Dr. Henry Walke, the incident manager for the CDC’s coronavirus response team, said Wednesday.

Walke described the known background details of each new variant.

“The first variant was identified originally in the U.K. and has likely been circulating there since September of 2020, especially in London and Southeast England. The second variant was first identified in South Africa and has been circulating there since October of 2020. This second variant developed independently of the first variant,” he said.

…Walke suggested that virus mutations are a normal part of disease circulation, “We expect to see new variants emerge over time. Many mutations lead to variants that don’t change how the virus infects people. Sometimes, however, variants emerge that can spread more rapidly, like these.”

This information is not widely published in our press. The news is focusing on the “mutation coountdown” of U.S. locations where the variants are being detected.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/01/cdc-doctors-on-coronavirus-mutations-no-evidence-that-these-variants-cause-more-severe-disease/

Pelosi Needs Everything Right Jan. 3 to Remain Speaker

By most late counts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., should be reelected speaker when the 117th Congress convenes Sunday.

However, to do so, Pelosi — at 81, the oldest speaker of the House in history — will have to get a majority of the votes of those on the House floor Sunday afternoon. (Under current House rules, no proxy voting is permitted in the speaker's race and members must be present to have their votes counted).

This is the stumbling block for Pelosi: The number of lawmakers who are present seems to be changing by the day – and, with it, the majority she desperately needs to keep the race from going to a second ballot.

As of Saturday, there will be 222 Democrats and 210 Republicans on the House floor. There will be three empty seats for now, all on the Republican side of the aisle: the seats of the late Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, R-La., who died last week; Rep.-elect Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Florida, who announced Friday she tested positive for COVID-19; and New York's 22nd District, in which Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., led by 29 votes with all votes in but will not be certified in time for Sunday.

Pelosi did get a "booster shot" Saturday when two Democrats who had announced last week they tested positive for COVID-19 —Reps. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., and Rick Larsen, D-Wash.— said they had their doctor's permission to travel to Washington and vote for the speaker.

So Pelosi needs 216 votes to win on the first ballot Sunday. Seven votes by Democrats for other candidates (voting "present" does not count) will send the speaker's race to a second ballot, at which point it is widely expected, Pelosi will drop out and a crop of new Democrats seeking her gavel will emerge.

Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., have made it clear they will vote for a candidate other than Pelosi. Another Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., has signaled she will vote "present," which does not count as a vote for speaker but reduces the majority needed by Pelosi.

Also, 10 of the 15 House Democrats who voted against Pelosi last time did so knowing it was a "safe" vote because of their comfortable majority. Now, with the House in its closest party division since 1958, it is likely many of them will support Pelosi — albeit reluctantly.

The X-factor in this election is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, the face of the House Democrats' progressive wing. Before the election, she told CNN's Jake Tapper she wanted the "most progressive candidate [for speaker], and if that candidate is Nancy Pelosi, I will support her."

That is the closest she has come to an endorsement of the speaker.

https://www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/nancy-pelosi-house-speaker-vote/2021/01/02/id/1004003/

>>12290525

>Pelosi did get a "booster shot" Saturday when two Democrats who had announced last week they tested positive for COVID-19 —Reps. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., and Rick Larsen, D-Wash.— said they had their doctor's permission to travel to Washington and vote for the speaker.