WHO says expert team heads to China in January
Geneva, Dec 19: The head of emergencies at the World Health Organisation says a team of international experts looking into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic will travel to China the first week of January.
Dr Michael Ryan says there will be quarantine arrangements for the team, which will visit the suspected site of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan.
The purpose of the mission is to go to the original point at which human cases were detected and that we fully expect to do that, he said.
He says the team of international experts will work with our Chinese colleagues, and he adds they will not be ... supervised by Chinese officials.
Ryan says the world should celebrate the arrival of vaccines, but the next three to six months are going to be tough.
He seemed to allude the Americas, which is home to roughly three-fourths of the global cases. He says it is likely transmission will intensify in countries already dealing with surges in cases.
The United States leads the world with 17.3 confirmed cases and 312,000 confirmed deaths. Brazil follows with 184,000 reported deaths and Mexico has 116,000 deaths.
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Fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi, nine killed
New Delhi (PTI): At least nine people were killed after a fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
"Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital," a senior police officer said.
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours.
The identities of the deceased are yet to be ascertained, and efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
