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WASHINGTON: Chinese hackers are trying to steal the Covid-19 vaccine investigation, US authorities said on Wednesday, increasing tensions between superpowers as markets fell amid US Federal Reserve warnings that closures prolonged damage could cause “lasting damage”.
Meanwhile, Europe pushed ahead with plans to gradually reopen summer tourism, despite fears of a second wave of pandemic infections that have forced more than half of humanity behind closed doors in recent years. months.
With some countries struggling after a further increase in cases and the global death toll above 294,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that the virus “may never go away.”
There is currently no proven therapy for Covid-19. An effective vaccine could allow countries to reopen completely and potentially earn millions of dollars for their creators.
With so much at stake, hackers linked to Beijing are trying to steal research and intellectual property related to treatments and vaccines, two US security agencies warned on Wednesday.
“China’s efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our nation’s response to Covid-19,” said the FBI and the Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Security Agency (CISA).
Neither offered evidence or examples to back up the charge.
Washington has increasingly blamed Beijing for the outbreak caused by the virus that first emerged in China late last year.
When asked Monday about previous reports that the United States believed that Chinese hackers were targeting the US vaccine investigation, President Donald Trump replied, “What else is new in China? What else is there? again? Tell me. I’m not happy with China. “
Beijing has repeatedly denied the United States’ accusations.
“Lasting damage”
The value of a vaccine was underlined when Jerome Powell, head of the US Federal Reserve, warned on Wednesday that persistent closures could cause “lasting” economic damage.
Powell’s warning blew up the globe on Wall Street, analysts said, and stocks slipped on the comments, even as he also said the United States economy should recover “substantially” once the outbreak stops.
The Fed chief said the crisis measures, including spending beyond the nearly $ 3 trillion already approved in the United States, would be crucial to a strong recovery.
Trump, trying to boost the economy while seeking reelection this year, is pushing past warnings from health officials, including top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, who warned that the reopening too soon risks triggering “an outbreak. that you may not be able to control. “
Some hints of the cost of moving too quickly can be seen in European markets, given a new attack on Wednesday by data showing new outbreaks in South Korea and Germany.
Russia, now the country with the second-highest number of virus cases, registered more than 10,000 new infections after authorities this week issued orders to stay home.
Fears also grew from a second wave in China, with the northeast city of Jilin partially closed in and Wuhan, where the virus was first reported last year, planning to test its entire population after clusters of new cases.
France reopens some beaches
Still, with no vaccine in sight and dire economic data pointing to the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, many countries were trying to navigate through the reopening.
Desperate to save millions of tourism jobs, the European Union laid plans for a gradual restart of travel this summer, with EU border controls finally lifted and measures to minimize infections, such as wearing masks in shared transport.
In a sign that France may be ready for the summer holidays, some beaches reopened on Wednesday, but only for swimming and fishing, while sunbathing was still prohibited.
People in England were allowed to leave their homes more freely, as Britain’s figures showed on Wednesday that its economy contracted by two percent in January-March, its fastest decline since 2008 and with a much contraction worse to come.
Hospitals alienate people
Elsewhere, however, cases were emerging.
Chile imposed a total blockade on its capital, Santiago, after a 60 percent jump in infections in the past 24 hours.
Brazil, emerging as a new global access point despite President Jair Bolsonaro dismissing the pandemic as a “little flu,” recorded the highest number of virus deaths in a single day, with 881 new deaths.
The United States, which has confirmed nearly 1.4 million cases, experienced a sharp increase in deaths, with 1,894 new deaths reported on Tuesday after daily tolls fell below 1,000.
Health experts have warned of potentially devastating consequences as the virus spreads throughout the developing world, where health systems are underfunded and isolation is often not possible.
In northern Nigeria, increasing tolls have raised fears that the virus is spreading, and hospitals are closing their doors to the sick.
Official Binta Mohammed said she had to see her husband die of “diabetic complications.”
“The four private hospitals we took him to refused to admit him for fear that he had the virus,” he said.
Dura Tough old woman ’
But there were stories of hope in the dark, including two centenarians who survived the virus.
In Spain, Maria Branyas, 113, battled the disease during weeks of isolation in a retirement home where other residents died of the disease.
And in Russia, Pelageya Poyarkova, 100, was released from a Moscow hospital after her own recovery.
Russian television showed Poyarkova wearing a mask and clutching red roses as she went out in a wheelchair.
“It turned out to be a tough old woman,” said the hospital’s acting director, Vsevolod Belousov. – AFP
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