CHINA LOGS FIRST COVID DEATH IN 8 MONTHS
GENEVA: Global health experts gather on Thursday to tackle new strains of the coronavirus blamed for a fresh surge in infections after China recorded its first COVID-19 death in eight months.
The World Health Organization (WHO) emergency committee session comes with their colleagues seeking the origins of the virus on a long-delayed mission to the pandemic ground zero in Wuhan.
In China, millions of people have been locked down again to try to tame a fresh outbreak that has now claimed its first victim.
The hashtag “New virus death in Hebei” quickly ratcheted up 100 million views on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
“I haven’t seen the words ‘virus death’ in so long, it’s a bit shocking! I hope the epidemic can pass soon,” one user wrote.
The death comes as a 10-strong investigation team arrived in Wuhan, where the virus emerged in late 2019.
Mission leader Peter Ben Embarek said they would enter a two-week hotel quarantine before the probe begins in earnest.
It “could be a very long journey before we get a full understanding of what happened.” he cautioned.
Beijing has argued Wuhan might not be where the virus originated, only where it was first identified.
Experts from a 15-member international team commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) to research the origins of the coronavirus pandemic were not allowed to enter China after failing a coronavirus antibody test.
The two scientists were prevented from boarding their plane to Wuhan during a layover in Singapore after they “tested positive for IGM antibodies,” the WHO said. They are now being re-tested.
Antibody tests look for signs in the blood as to whether a person has been exposed to the coronavirus. The presence of IGM antibodies might be an early sign of infection or it could mean the person was once infected but now no longer is.
In a series of tweets, the WHO said all team members had taken both PCR tests, which look for the SARS-COV-2 virus, and antibody tests,which look for the immune system’s response. All came back negative,the WHO said.