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A team that includes experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in Wuhan yesterday to investigate the origin of the emerging corona virus that causes the pandemic (Covid-19), more than a year after its appearance, noting that two of the team members were unable to board the plane in Singapore after it was checked. Tests carry antibodies against the virus, while a British study concluded that those infected with “Covid-19” are more likely to have immunity against the disease for at least five months.
The international team, consisting of 13 experts assigned to the long-overdue mission, was greeted by Chinese officials in protective clothing, who took throat swabs from team members upon arrival and were rushed to a hotel, where they had to spend two weeks in stone before starting work.
The virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and its spread has accelerated around the world, killing nearly two million people so far, infecting tens of millions and causing serious damage to the world economy.
The Health Organization says that knowing how the virus is transmitted from animals to humans is necessary to prevent future outbreaks of epidemics.
However, despite months of arduous negotiations over its mission, the team was denied access last week, in an indication of the political sensitivity of an issue that witnessed the exchange of accusations between countries, speculation and denials.
The organization said yesterday that while most of the team arrived, two of them were not allowed to board the plane from Singapore to Wuhan, after tests showed they carry antibodies to the virus, a new obstacle in the long journey. from experts to China.
The organization said in a tweet that all members of the team “performed various PCR tests in their countries and antibody tests against (Covid-19), which came back negative before the trip.”
The visit comes at a time when China seeks to eliminate new sources of HIV infections.
And it imposed isolation measures that affected more than 20 million people in northern China, and declared a state of emergency in one of the provinces, while the country announced the first death of “Covid-19” in eight months.
The National Health Committee announced 138 new infections yesterday, the highest daily figure since March last year.
Injury foci are still limited, compared to other countries that are struggling with an increase in the number of injuries and deaths.
But the first death from the virus in China in several months, of a woman suffering from illness in Hebei province, sparked fear across China.
The hashtag “New death from the virus in Hebei” received more than 270 million visits yesterday on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Before that, the last reported death in mainland China was in May last year, and the official death toll now stands at 4,635.
Beijing seeks to prevent the spread of the pandemic ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations, the occasion the Chinese celebrate next month, during which hundreds of millions of people are expected to move through the country.
With the detection of new infections, Heilongjiang province yesterday declared a “state of emergency” and asked the population of 37.5 million people not to leave the province, unless absolutely necessary.
China is preparing for the think tank mission, which will shed light on its novel about the virus.
Beijing is fueling the idea that the pandemic first emerged outside its borders and prefers to focus on its relatively rapid control of the health crisis.
WHO did its best to remove the political burden associated with the mission from its team.
The head of the mission, Peter bin Mubarak, said the group will start with mandatory stone at a hotel.
“After two weeks, we will be able to travel and meet our Chinese counterparts in person, and go to the various places we want to visit,” he added.
He warned that “it can be a very long journey before we fully understand what happened.”
Beijing says that although Wuhan is the place where it detected the first hot spots of infections, it is not necessarily the origin of the virus.
“I don’t think we will have clear answers after this initial mission, but we will be on our way to that,” added Peter.
“The idea is to present a series of studies that were designed and decided months ago to better understand what happened,” he said.
This comes at a time when a British study, conducted in healthcare workers, found that those infected with “Covid-19” would likely have immunity against the disease for at least five months, but there is evidence that those who carry antibodies can carry Virus and spread it. And preliminary results achieved by scientists from the Public Health Authority in England showed that it is rare for the virus to be infected by antibody carriers as a result of a previous infection, as the second infection occurred in only 44 of the 6,614 people who were infected with the virus and were included in the study. But experts warned that the results mean that those who contracted the disease in the first wave of the pandemic in the first months of 2020 may now be at risk of contracting it again. They also warned that those with “natural immunity” acquired as a result of infection can carry the virus in their nose and throat, and thus can spread the infection.
In the same context, Lebanon initiated stricter blanket lockdown measures early yesterday than its predecessors, including a full curfew for about two weeks, in an attempt to curb record high infection rates with the emerging coronavirus. .
Traffic appeared to be limited on several Beirut streets and suburbs. Commercial establishments, markets and most private companies closed their doors, while social media users posted images showing a traffic jam at one of Beirut’s northern entrances.
Pope Francis and his predecessor, Benedict, receive the vaccine
Yesterday, the Vatican said that Pope Francis and former Vatican Pope Benedict XVI received the first dose of the Corona virus vaccine.
Pope Francis (84 years old) and former Pope Benedict (93 years old) received the dose of the vaccine, as part of the Vatican vaccination program that began the day before yesterday.
Although both are at risk of infection, given his advanced age, Pope Francis may be at greater risk due to the removal of part of one of his lungs in his youth, after contracting a disease in his native Argentina.
The Vatican City has registered fewer than 30 cases of coronavirus, most of them among Swiss guards who reside in shared barracks. Rome – Reuters
– The first death from the virus was recorded in China in several months.
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