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Coronavirus live news: WHO team gives briefing in Wuhan following investigation

longdi

Banned

Coronavirus could have been circulating elsewhere before Wuhan discovery​

The virus that causes Covid-19 could have been circulating in other regions before it was identified in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, a top expert at China’s health authority said on Tuesday.
Prof Liang Wannian, an expert with China’s Health Commission, also told a press briefing at the end of a nearly one-month visit to Wuhan by a WHO-led team that there had been no substantial spread of the virus in the city before the late 2019 outbreak.

Embarek says all work to identify the origin of Covid-19 continues to point towards a natural reservoir in bats but it is unlikely that they were in Wuhan.

It is not yet possible to pinpoint the intermediary animal reservoir for coronavirus, he adds.

The search for how the virus was introduced is still a “work in progress”, Embarek says.
 

longdi

Banned
Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO virus expert, also told a press briefing that work to identify the origins of the coronavirus points to a natural reservoir in bats, but it is unlikely that they were in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the outbreak was discovered in late 2019.

Embarek says the most likely pathway for Covid-19 was crossover into humans from an intermediary species.

The hypothesis that coronavirus is transmitted through trade in frozen cold chain products is also possible, he adds.
 
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longdi

Banned

Lab leak hypothesis 'extremely unlikely', WHO official says​

The lab leak hypothesis is an extremely unlikely pathway for Covid-19 and will not require further study as part of their work in studying the origins of the virus, Embarek says.
 

longdi

Banned
The virus’s path from the animal to the Huanan market could have been very convoluted and could have crossed borders, Embarek adds. :messenger_face_screaming:
 

KiNeMz

Banned
China also spreads information to its people that it first came from Sweden and Italy and Australia and the US army and that it didn't come from Wuhan. Who funds the who?
 

longdi

Banned
China also spreads information to its people that it first came from Sweden and Italy and Australia and the US army and that it didn't come from Wuhan. Who funds the who?

Who are our stakeholders?​

Diverse global health stakeholders engage with WHO.

We work closely with decision-makers: Ministries of Health, government agencies, other government departments at the national level.

We also work with influencers: health partnerships, foundations, intragovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, civil society, media, professional associations, and WHO collaborating centres.

Our engagement with the United Nations at the global, regional, and country level is also a major asset.
 

longdi

Banned
He says the exact role of the market remains unknown.

There was spread among people who were [there] and lived and worked and visited the Huanan market throughout December. How it was introduced and spread within the market is still unknown. We have a map and have mapped over time the spread of the virus among the earlier cases that were linked to the market. We have a picture of where the cases worked in the market.
We have genetic sequences for some of these cases ... All that tells us there was a spread among people in Huanan market in December rand therefore the market probably was a setting where that kind of spread could happen easily, but it’s not the whole story. We know there was also spread among individuals who were not linked to this market. They were linked to other market ... So the picture is not clear in that respect.
Embarek says his team continues to evaluate how it was introduced, and that they have obtained material and clues to be able to study the question further.

We are still working with the hypothesis that it could have been introduced by a person who was infected and then spread to other persons in the market. But it could also be through the introduction of a product. Among the more interesting products were frozen farmed wild animals . Some of these species are known to be susceptible to these kinds of viruses.
 

longdi

Banned
Embarek says some of the first cases linked to the market had their onset of symptoms on the first two weeks of December, indicating that they were likely infected at the start of the month or in late November.

On why the lab theory is the only hypothesis that has been almost all but discounted by the group, he adds that his team have deemed that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was in a good state and that it was “very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place”.

When lab accidents happen, “they are extremely rare events”. Also taken into consideration was the fact that Covid-19 was unknown.

However, he adds that “past accidents have happened all of the world”, and suggests it is remarkable in and of itself that Covid-19 was first identified in Wuhan, near WIV labs. “Of course all these arguments were put for and against each other,” he says.

His colleague reiterates that the lab leak theory has been placed within the “extremely unlikely” section of their matrix. But, if there was a lab leak, there are two possible pathways.

First, the virus was engineered by humans. But this hypothesis has already been refuted by the whole scientific community around the world. Secondly, there may be a leak of the virus from the lab; but it should be leaking of an existing or known virus. In all the laboratories in Wuhan, there is no existing virus of Sars-Cov-2, if there is no existence of this virus there is no way that this virus would be leaked.
 

longdi

Banned
Feb. 10 (UPI) -- China said the United States should admit World Health Organization investigators for a probe similar to the WHO fact-finding mission to Wuhan, citing the alleged presence of COVID-19 on U.S. soil in 2019.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday at a regular press briefing that China may have not been the source of the novel coronavirus despite the surge in cases in Wuhan that spread beyond Chinese borders in early 2020.


"There are a number of clues, reports, and studies that suggest the outbreaks began in multiple locations around the world as early as the second half of 2019," Wang said. "The coronavirus may have been present in the United States before the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was officially reported in the country."

The Chinese diplomat also urged Washington to "adopt the same open and transparent attitude as China, and invite WHO experts to carry out origin-tracing studies in the United States."

RELATED China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft achieves orbit at Mars


The Chinese government has consistently defended its record on the coronavirus pandemic, promoting the idea the country fell victim to the virus even after provincial and central government authorities suppressed information about the disease at a key stage and denied human-to-human transmission for weeks despite evidence.

China barred the WHO from conducting origin-tracing projects in the country in 2020, but admitted investigators to Wuhan a year after the pandemic began in the Chinese city.

On Wednesday Wang claimed Beijing had been in close communication with WHO in an "open and transparent way," a day after WHO investigator Dr. Peter Ben Embarek said it is "extremely unlikely" the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was involved in coronavirus research in bats.

RELATED Model shows how air conditioning influences COVID-19 transmission


Embarek had said the theory the virus reached humans as a result of a lab accident did not warrant future study, after speaking with Chinese scientists at the lab.

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it will not "rush to conclusions" after the WHO press conference in China.

"We want to see where that data leaves us, and based on that, we'll come to a conclusion," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.


 

KiNeMz

Banned
Feb. 10 (UPI) -- China said the United States should admit World Health Organization investigators for a probe similar to the WHO fact-finding mission to Wuhan, citing the alleged presence of COVID-19 on U.S. soil in 2019.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday at a regular press briefing that China may have not been the source of the novel coronavirus despite the surge in cases in Wuhan that spread beyond Chinese borders in early 2020.


"There are a number of clues, reports, and studies that suggest the outbreaks began in multiple locations around the world as early as the second half of 2019," Wang said. "The coronavirus may have been present in the United States before the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was officially reported in the country."

The Chinese diplomat also urged Washington to "adopt the same open and transparent attitude as China, and invite WHO experts to carry out origin-tracing studies in the United States."

RELATED China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft achieves orbit at Mars


The Chinese government has consistently defended its record on the coronavirus pandemic, promoting the idea the country fell victim to the virus even after provincial and central government authorities suppressed information about the disease at a key stage and denied human-to-human transmission for weeks despite evidence.

China barred the WHO from conducting origin-tracing projects in the country in 2020, but admitted investigators to Wuhan a year after the pandemic began in the Chinese city.

On Wednesday Wang claimed Beijing had been in close communication with WHO in an "open and transparent way," a day after WHO investigator Dr. Peter Ben Embarek said it is "extremely unlikely" the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was involved in coronavirus research in bats.

RELATED Model shows how air conditioning influences COVID-19 transmission


Embarek had said the theory the virus reached humans as a result of a lab accident did not warrant future study, after speaking with Chinese scientists at the lab.

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it will not "rush to conclusions" after the WHO press conference in China.

"We want to see where that data leaves us, and based on that, we'll come to a conclusion," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.


Just wow.

"We want to see where that data leaves us, and based on that, we'll come to a conclusion," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

What Data????
 

Azurro

Banned
On why the lab theory is the only hypothesis that has been almost all but discounted by the group, he adds that his team have deemed that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was in a good state and that it was “very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place”.

Oh yes, the theory is wrong because Chinese labs are too great, all hail the CCP. Hilarious. longdi longdi , how did you get into the Chinese propaganda business? Does it pay well? :p
 

Liljagare

Member
Hilarious, the US and the UK are accusing Russia of stealing, or trying to steal vaccine data.

Meanwhile, the US and the UK have stolen 9 million doses of actually produced and paid for vaccine. :p
 
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