How genetic science helped expose a coronavirus outbreak in Iowa - Washington Post

Absolutely cracking story of a scientist who rolled up his sleeves and tracked the virus the State and employer tried to hide to 15 different states - and beyond. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/genetic-science-coronavirus-outbreak-iowa/

One of the reasons why I am very very troubled by employers, schools, universities using their own testing devices.

If you have bad actors it is too easy to hide an outbreak that is perceived as being bad for business.

Operation Moonshot, in other words.

It started with rumours at a kosher plant..

A rabbi sick.

An employee falling ill.

Others with Fevers & chills.

The employer would not shut down even with confirmed cases.

Nor would the State department responsible IOSHA

Nor the Governor. Just the reverse. Employees were threatened with prosecution if they released data, & it took 7 weeks before testing at the plant was conducted.

An Irish tumour geneticist, Paraic ( pronounced Pourick) Kenny, was intrigued and he decided Ed to track the molecular bar code infected swabs can deliver.

This was too interesting to miss

He started in April, working through the night, on samples being sent over, uploading the sequences to a global database that enabled him to identify sub strains introduced into the region from around the world.

The onward story of the cover up, the avoidable suffering and the exposure through painstaking genomic detective work really is quite something.

Especially given the lengths organisation & politicians went to to threaten, lie & conceal