WHO virus probe team to land on Thursday: China
Global cases double to 90mn in 10 weeks; Pope’s doc dies from Covid; Micronesia reports 1st infection
BEIJING/WASHINGTON: A World Health Organization (WHO) team of international experts tasked with investigating the origins of Covid-19 will arrive in China on January 14, Chinese authorities said on Monday.
The announcement came on the day Wuhan marked one year since the central Chinese city reported the first confirmed fatality from the coronavirus disease.
Lack of authorisation from Beijing had delayed the arrival of the 10-strong team on a longawaited mission to investigate early infections, in what China’s foreign ministry called a “misunderstanding”. The National Health Commission, which announced the arrival date, delayed from its early January schedule, did not detail the team’s itinerary.
China, which on Monday reported a five-month high of 103 daily coronavirus infections, has been accused of a cover-up that delayed its initial response, allowing the coronavirus virus to spread since it first emerged in Wuhan late in 2019.
The US has repeatedly called for a “transparent” WHO-led investigation and criticised its terms, which allowed Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.
World sees 45 million cases in last 10 weeks
Coronavirus infections have now surpassed 90 million confirmed cases around the world, as more countries braced for wider spread of more virulent strains of the respiratory disease. The number of cases worldwide has doubled in over the past 10 weeks, according to a tally maintained by the US-based Johns Hopkins University. Infections had crossed 45 million in late October.
Pope’s doctor, who had cancer, dies from Covid
Fabrizio Soccorsi, 78, personal doctor to Pope Francis, has died, media reports said. He was hospitalised in Rome for cancer, but complications from Covid-19 was reported to be the cause of death. The pope had chosen him as his personal doctor in 2015. Reports did not say if the two had recent contact.
Micronesia’s Covid-free run comes to an end
Remote Pacific Micronesia, whose 100,000 population is spread over 600 islands, recorded a first case of Covid-19, ending its run as one of the few places on Earth without the virus. President David Panuelo said the development was “alarming” but said the case had been contained at the border.
The far-flung Pacific island nations of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Samoa and now Micronesia have lost their virus-free status, though none have reported community transmission of the virus yet.