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Beijing is closing again
Lithuanian Ambassador to China Ina Marčiulionytė, who is finishing her job in Beijing, wrote on her Facebook account on Wednesday: “70 percent of flights in Beijing are canceled, and she plans to cancel trips from the city with no problems. important. And who will want to go and quarantine in another province for two weeks? Some markets are also closed. Newly opened schools are closed, universities are closed. Refundable train tickets are refunded. The Chinese epidemiologist says that the high concentration of virus in Beijing could have been as early as May because there were a number of vague or asymptomatic signs of the carriers, and the outbreak has only occurred now. Pools, sports clubs remain closed. Cultural institutions are also closing. Sanitized shops, restaurants, dining rooms. Your staff must work with masks and gloves. “
On Thursday, I.Marčiulionytė announced that Beijing is increasing its testing capacity to 400,000 per day.
“People who have visited three markets in the last 14 days are being evaluated. Currently, more than 150 infected people have been found, as many are being evaluated, the numbers are expected to grow. There are concerns about the modernization and management of Beijing markets and the introduction of additional hygiene requirements, “wrote the ambassador.
AFP / Scanpix photo / Closed market where infection is believed to have started
The main culprit is salmon.
The German magazine Der Spiegel writes that, according to Beijing authorities, the source of the new coronavirus outbreak was a market where salmon was sold. But fish can be a distributor of coronaviruses, the magazine asks.
Epidemiologists in Beijing claim that the virus was detected in a marketplace on a board where salmon was processed. The fish was found to come from another seafood market.
China imports salmon from many countries, including Norway, Chile, Australia, Canada, and the Faroe Islands.
Beijing authorities immediately isolated eleven residential neighborhoods, closing kindergartens and schools that operated near the market. Events and sports complexes are also prohibited.
“Even Norwegian salmon companies have experienced a new coronavirus outbreak when Beijing supermarkets immediately cut salmon. The Norwegian companies’ share price plummeted. But is there really a fear that salmon will become infected with the coronavirus and is it transmitted to humans? ”, writes Der Spiegel.
According to the publication, researchers have already carried out a series of studies on whether animals can transmit the virus to humans. The virus is still believed to have started spreading in the Chinese city of Uhan late last year when a human became infected with an animal that became an intermediate host for the virus. The most likely vector of the virus is currently considered the wild mammal pangolin, whose meat is considered a delicacy, and its organs are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Or is it just a lack of hygiene?
Der Spiegel writes that researchers have discovered that other animals, such as cats, ferrets, camels, horses, sheep, and rabbits, can become infected with the virus in the laboratory. However, many animals are resistant to the virus, such as chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, pigs, mice, and rats.
Reuters / Scanpix Photo / Beijing Airport
“Sars-CoV-2 penetrates into the cells of the body and binds to the ACE2 enzyme. Therefore, whether animals can become infected with the coronavirus depends on its ACE2 enzyme, in other words, whether the virus can use its ACE2 enzyme. as a gateway through which you enter.
Therefore, the researchers developed three-dimensional models of ACE2 in various animal species to assess whether Sars-CoV-2 could infect them.
The highest risk of infection was found in several mammals. Several studies have shown that the risk of infection in reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds is low. As a result, it would be incredible if salmon could become infected and transmit it to humans, ”explains the publication.
“It just came to our attention then. China’s information policy is trying to give the impression that the government is in control of everything. However, at this point in time, it is very likely that the virus was detected on the board in the one that processed salmon because one of the vendors was infected with the coronavirus and did not meet hygiene requirements, ”says Der Spiegel.
Scientists have found that on some surfaces, Sars-CoV-2 may remain viable even for a few days. Therefore, depending on the material the board was made from on which the salmon was treated and how often it was washed or disinfected, it could have been a source of danger for several hours or more.
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