Outbreak speeding up with 150k cases in a day: WHO
BEIJING TENSE China’s top expert says strain of new cases came from Europe
nBEIJING/ GENEVA/ WASHINGTON: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said the Covid-19 pandemic is “accelerating” and a record 150,000 cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “We are in a new and dangerous phase. Many people are understandably fed up with being at home and countries are understandably eager to open up their societies.” He warned the virus is still “spreading fast”.
In Beijing, officials said the coronavirus strain that triggered the outbreak in the Chinese capital could have originated in Europe. Scientists released the genome sequence of samples picked up from the Xinfadi market and shared it with WHO and the Global Influenza Data Initiative (GISAID). Genetic sequencing research shows this virus came from Europe, said Zhang Yong, an assistant director at China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo questioned China’s credibility on reporting cases in Beijing and called for neutral observers to assess the outbreak.
In the US, leading expert Anthony Fauci said the country does not require more widespread lockdowns to get its outbreak under control.
Also, over 40 scientists signed an open letter calling for the retraction of a study in PNAS that claimed that airborne transmission could be the main mode of spread of Covid-19.
MILAN: Scientists in Italy have found traces of the coronavirus in wastewater collected from Milan and Turin in December 2019 - suggesting Covid-19 was circulating in north Italy before China reported the first cases.
The Italian National Institute of Health (INIH) looked at 40 sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants in northern Italy between October 2019 and February 2020.
An analysis said samples taken in Milan and Turin on December 18 showed the presence of the virus. “This research may help us understand the beginning of the circulation of the virus in Italy,” said Giuseppina La Rosa, an expert at the INIH.