WHO advance team ends visit to China to probe COVID origin
Geneva: The World Health Organisation said on Monday that an advance team looking into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak has concluded its mission in China, and the UN health agency is preparing the deployment of a larger group of experts to the suspected outbreak zone.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the international team will deploy to Wuhan, the city where the pandemic is believed to have erupted late last year. Tedros said terms of reference have been drawn up by the WHO and China, but he did not specify.
The WHO advance team that traveled to China has now concluded their mission to lay the groundwork for further joint efforts to identify the virus' origins, he told a news conference.
Epidemiological studies will begin in Wuhan to identify the potential source of infection of the early cases.He said evidence and hypothesis generated from the work would lay the ground for further, longer-term studies.
The comments came amid an increasingly heavy toll from the pandemic in the United States, Brazil and India, as investigators seek to clarify the origins of the virus and how it may have jumped from animals to humans late last year.
Dr Michael Ryan, the WHO's emergencies chief, noted gaps in the epidemiological landscape and said it would be assessed what studies to conduct and what data to collect. He said the two-person advance team had not returned from China, and had not been debriefed yet.
The real trick is to go to the human clusters that occurred first and then to work your way back systematically looking for that first signal at which the animal human species barrier was crossed, Ryan said.
Once you understand where that the barrier was breached, then you move into the studies in a more systematic way on the animal side, The WHO press office, contacted by The Associated Press after the news conference, did not provide details of the terms of reference, say whether they would be made public, or indicate how big the international team would be or when it could be sent to China.
It said team members had extensive discussions with their Chinese counterparts during the three-week visit, and had discussions by video with virologists and other scientists in Wuhan including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.US President Donald Trump in April claimed to have seen evidence to support the theory that the lab was the origin of the virus.
On Sunday, Dr Deborah Birx, the White House top coronavirus adviser, said the virus was extraordinarily widespread in the US and infections in urban and rural America marked a new phase for the pandemic in the country.
Ryan, asked to comment about such remarks, said he didn't believe the intention was to create a sense of a new phase ... but to really remind all states that the disease never went away.
It's not our job to tell the US what it should be doing at sub-national level: The state-based planning and implementation guided by the national scientists seems to be (on) the right path, Ryan added. The difficulty for us all is: sometimes we know the right path. The difficulty is choosing to walk it.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ballari clash: Sriramulu, Janardhana Reddy hold press meet; statue unveiling postponed
Ballari: Former minister B Sriramulu and Gangavathi MLA Gali Janardhana Reddy addressed a joint press conference on Friday, a day after a violent clash broke out between rival Reddy groups over the installation of banners ahead of the Valmiki statue unveiling programme in the city.
Speaking to reporters, Sriramulu said the death of Rajasekhar Reddy, who was killed by a gunshot during the clash, was painful. He said he and his party would stand by the victim’s family and extend support to them. Alleging that Ballari MLA Nara Bharath Reddy was responsible for the incident, Sriramulu demanded legal action against him and called for a thorough probe to establish whose bullet caused Rajasekhar Reddy’s death.
Sriramulu further alleged that the clash was premeditated, claiming that a group had come near their residence with petrol-filled beer bottles and stones, allegedly with the intention of attacking them. He also alleged that there was an attempt to assault Janardhana Reddy.
Janardhana Reddy, addressing the media, said the incident had made him fear for his life. He alleged that there was an attempt to kill him and held Bharath Reddy responsible for the violence. Former minister Somasekhar Reddy, BJP Ballari district leaders and party workers were also present at the press meet.
The clash occurred on Thursday night in the Havambhavi area when rival groups confronted each other over putting up banners for the Valmiki statue unveiling scheduled for January 3. During the violence, a Congress worker was shot dead. Police have registered four separate cases in connection with the incident, including one taken up suo motu.
Responding to the allegations, Ballari MLA Bharath Reddy said the party was mourning the loss of its worker, Rajasekhar Reddy, whom he described as a close associate. He accused Janardhana Reddy of trying to divert attention from illegal mining issues and said the death had cast a shadow over the planned celebrations. He announced that the Valmiki statue unveiling programme had been postponed due to the prevailing atmosphere of grief.
Meanwhile, Ballari Rural MLA B Nagendra confirmed that the statue unveiling event had been temporarily deferred following the clash and on the advice of the Chief Minister. He said the programme would be held on a later date under the leadership of the Chief Minister and senior ministers. Nagendra also criticised Janardhana Reddy, saying there was no place for what he described as a “Republic of Ballari” mindset under the present administration, and asserted that the government would not allow any form of intimidation or lawlessness.
_vb_21.jpeg)
_vb_33.jpeg)