Cooperate with probe into the origins of Covid-19: WHO chief tells China

World Health Organization WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus has called on China to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the origins of the Covid19 amid renewed call to further probe the virusDr Tedros made these remarks after taking part in the Group of Seven G7 summit by video conference on Saturday The Wall Street Journal WSJ reported The WHO DirectorGeneral hoped there would be better cooperation and transparency when the next phase of the probe into the virusrsquos origin is underwayldquoAs you know we will need cooperation from the Chinese siderdquo he said ldquoWe need transparency to understand or know or find the origin of this virusafter the report was released there were difficulties in the data sharing especially in the raw datardquo He further said that the preparations for the probersquos next steps were underway and that the issue of the origin of the virus was discussed by G7 leaders on Saturday WSJ reportedTedros Ghebreyesus WHO chiefEarlier this week the US and the UK had extended support to a ldquotimely transparent and evidencebased independent processrdquo for the next phase of the WHOconvened study of Covid19 originsWorld leaders gathered at the G7 Summit in Cornwall discussed the possibility that a laboratory leak in central Chinarsquos Wuhan city may have a connection with the start of the Covid19 pandemic with Dr Tedros saying all hypotheses behind the origins of the deadly disease remain in playUK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that officials ldquocompared notesrdquo over the theory that the pandemic may have originated from a leak from a lab in Wuhan calling for further investigationsDr Tedros told reporters on Saturday that the theory was raised during a formal session at the G7 summit in Cornwall dedicated to health matters and that identifying the source of the pandemic was a core part of showing respect to the millions of people around the globe who have died from the deadly virusldquoThe first phase of the origin study was not conclusive so there are four hypotheses but itrsquos not conclusive yet So we believe that all four hypotheses should be open and we need to proceed with the second phase to really know the originsrdquo said Dr TedrosldquoAs you know more than 174 million people have been confirmed for Covid illness This is actually an underestimate it could be more And so far close to 375 million people have died This is very tragic and I think the respect these people deserve is knowing what the origin of this virus is so that we can prevent it from happening againrdquo he said stressing on the importance of ldquocooperation from the Chinese siderdquoChinese city gets drones to keep people insideA fleet of 60 drones has been deployed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to keep people indoors and remind those going out to wear masksNow mRNA vaccine for pregnant womenNew Zealand and Australia will now routinely offer the Pfizer Covid19 vaccine to women at any stage of pregnancy following an update of vaccination advice This comes as research suggests the risk of severe outcomes from infection is significantly higher for pregnant women compared to the general population Data from pregnant women who have been vaccinated around the world have shown no safety concerns associated with Covid19 vaccinesGadget that sniffs out Covid19Electronic devices may soon be used to identify the presence of infection in a crowded space using body odour profiles after scientists in the UK havetested a socalled ldquoCovid alarmrdquo Early studies by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Durham University show that Covid19 infection has a distinct smell resulting from changes in the volatile organic compounds which make up the body odour generating an odour ldquofingerprintrdquo that the sensors can detectAlso ReadCovid19 Mumbai sees 700 cases 19 deaths TPR of 232 per cent410497No of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours174918667Total no of cases worldwide3782490Total no of deaths worldwideSource WHOJohns HopkinsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever