Members of a WHO team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic on their second full day of work yesterday visited another Wuhan hospital that had treated early patients.
Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital was one of the city’s first to deal with patients early last year with a then-unknown virus and is a key part of the epidemiological history of the disease.
“Just back from visit at Jinyintan Hospital that specialized in infectious diseases and was designated for treatment of the first cases in Wuhan,” Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans wrote on Twitter. “Stories quite similar to what I have heard from our ICU doctors.”
Photo: AFP
Zoologist Peter Daszak of the US group EcoHealth Alliance, who is a member of the team, wrote on Twitter that the visit was an “important opportunity to talk directly” with medics who were fighting the virus at the critical time.
The team’s first face-to-face meetings with Chinese scientists took place on Friday, before the experts who specialize in animal health, virology, food safety and epidemiology visited another early site of the outbreak, the Hubei Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital.
The Geneva-based WHO said late on Thursday on Twitter that its team plans to visit hospitals, markets like the Huanan Seafood Market that was linked to many of the first cases, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and laboratories at facilities including the Wuhan Center for Disease Control.
“All hypotheses are on the table as the team follows the science in their work to understand the origins of the COVID19 virus,” the WHO tweeted.
It said that the team had already requested “detailed underlying data” and planned to speak with early responders and some of the first patients.
The mission has become politically charged, as China seeks to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak.
A single visit by scientists is unlikely to confirm the virus’ origins.
Pinning down an outbreak’s animal reservoir is typically an exhaustive endeavor that takes years of research, including taking animal samples, genetic analysis and epidemiological studies.
One possibility is that a wildlife poacher might have passed the virus to traders who carried it to Wuhan.
The Chinese government has promoted theories that the outbreak might have started with imports of frozen seafood tainted with the virus, a notion rejected by international scientists and agencies.
A possible site to focus on for investigators is the Wuhan Institute of Virology. One of China’s top virus research labs, it built an archive of genetic information about bat coronaviruses after the 2003 outbreak of SARS.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Friday said that his father, jailed former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, has chosen him to lead the country’s powerful conservative movement, shaking up next year’s election race. The 44-year-old senator said on social media that he will carry forward the political legacy that reshaped Brazilian politics. His announcement makes him an instant contender for the presidency. Jair Bolsonaro, 70, is unlikely to run after being sentenced to 27 years for plotting a coup and banned from public office. He is appealing and seeking a legislative pardon. The former president also faces serious health issues, including complications from a
RSS