Latest news with #Covid19
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Covid origins investigation inconclusive, says WHO
A long-running World Health Organization investigation into the origins of Covid-19 has been unable to conclude where the virus came from because of a refusal to share information by China and intelligence agencies. An independent panel found that the most likely scientific explanation for the emergence of Covid-19 was direct transmission from bats to humans, or via an intermediary animal sold at the Wuhan wet market where the first cases emerged in December 2019, the WHO announced on Friday. 'Most scientific data and accessible published scientific evidence currently supports this hypothesis, however [we] are not currently able to conclude when, where and how Sars Cov-2 entered the human population,' Dr Marietjie Venter, Chair The Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), told a press conference. Dr Venter added that the Wuhan Huanan seafood market had played a 'significant role' in the spread of the virus, and that 60 per cent of early cases could conclusively be traced back to the site. She added that no widespread human or animal cases had been recorded anywhere else before December 2019. The pandemic killed an estimated 20 million people while shredding economies and crippling health systems, according to the WHO. Understanding its origins is seen as key to preventing future pandemics. The panel was unable to rule out the possibility that the virus emerged from a laboratory leak in Wuhan due to a lack of cooperation from Chinese authorities and other governments who had been unwilling to share intelligence reports, the health agency said. 'Much of the information needed to investigate this hypothesis has not been made available to WHO or SAGO, despite repeated requests to the government of China,' said Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO's Director General. 'Despite our repeated requests, China hasn't provided hundreds of viral sequences from individuals with Covid-19 early in the pandemic, more detailed information on animals sold at markets in Wuhan, and information on work done and biosafety conditions at laboratories in Wuhan,' he said. The CIA said in January that Covid-19 was 'more likely' to have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a highly secure laboratory located in the heart of the city where the first cases of Covid-19 were recorded, than to have come from animals. Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, believes there is an 80-90 per cent chance that coronavirus accidentally leaked from a Chinese lab, German media reported earlier this year. Dr Tedros said: 'WHO is also aware of intelligence reports performed by other governments around the world on the origins of Covid-19, we have also requested access to those reports [....] and have not had access to [them] or their underlying data.' As well as the lab leak and zoonotic spillover explanations, the committee also investigated two other hypotheses. One, which was promoted by Beijing in the early days of the pandemic, is the claim that Covid-19 was transmitted via frozen food products imported into China. Dr Venter said that 'more data is required to prove this hypothesis'. A fourth theory – popular on social media – is that the pandemic was the result of a deliberate laboratory manipulation of the virus. 'SAGO analysed the genomic structure of the virus and did not find scientific evidence supporting this hypothesis. There's also evidence that these mutations and recombinations occur in nature,' Dr Venter said. The WHO's efforts to uncover the origins of Covid have long been shrouded in doubt, largely because of China's refusal to share information with investigators. After four years of investigation, 'all hypotheses remain on the table,' said Dr Tedros. He added that the WHO continued to appeal to Beijing and other countries with information about the origins of Covid-19 to share the information openly, in the interests of protecting the world from future pandemics. The full SAGO report was published on Friday. Its authors concluded that 'although evidence exists that has improved our understanding of the early and subsequent evolution of the virus in humans and animals, significant data gaps remain which preclude SAGO from concluding with certainty how SARS-CoV-2 initially entered the human population'. The panel urged China and the global scientific community to 'prioritise further work on understanding the origins of Covid-19 and for all countries to comprehensively study future emergences of unknown pathogens'. The full SAGO report was being published on Friday. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Bloomberg
7 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Stocks Are Defying the Naysayers. They Can Keep Going.
The S&P 500 Index just rallied back to all-time highs, brushing off the April tariff shock, the conflict with Iran and the insidious and persistent increase in US continuing jobless claims. A growing chorus of bears thinks traders are whistling past the graveyard, and they're far from crazy to think so. But then again, index highs almost always feel like this. Consider August 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic was still in full swing. The government data had put unemployment at over 10%, and yet blended forward price-earnings ratios were in the 99th percentile of the previous two decades. There was some general optimism about the prospects for a vaccine, but clinical trials were still ongoing and a summer surge of Sun Belt cases had dashed hopes for a quick resolution to the pandemic disruptions. Meanwhile, a popular narrative posited that 'dumb money' retail traders were driving the stock rally. How did that turn out? Even after the Aug. 18 high, the index returned another 11.5% in 2020 and 28.7% in 2021. Not too shabby.
CNA
8 hours ago
- Health
- CNA
WHO says all Covid-19 origin theories still open, after inconclusive study
GENEVA: All hypotheses on how the Covid-19 pandemic began remain open, the World Health Organization said on Friday (Jun 27), following an inconclusive four-year investigation that was hamstrung by crucial information being withheld. The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the WHO, while shredding economies, crippling health systems and turning people's lives upside-down. The first cases were detected in Wuhan in China in late 2019, and understanding where the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid came from is key to preventing future pandemics. However, a lengthy investigation launched by the UN's health agency said that pending further data, the origin of Covid and how it first spread remains elusive. "As things stand, all hypotheses must remain on the table, including zoonotic spillover and lab leak," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference, referring to the two main hypotheses as to how the pandemic began. EXPERT INVESTIGATION An initial WHO-Chinese joint report in March 2021 concluded that the virus most likely jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate animal. It deemed a leak from Wuhan's virology laboratories, known for their research on coronaviruses, to be "extremely unlikely". However, that investigation faced harsh criticism for lacking transparency and access, and for not seriously evaluating the lab-leak theory. Tedros launched another investigation, setting up the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), comprising 27 international experts, in July 2021. Their 78-page report was published on Friday. It said the weight of available evidence suggests a spillover from animals, either directly from bats, or through an intermediate host. However, it could not conclude with certainty where and when this happened, nor whether the Wuhan wet market was where the virus first spilled over into humans. That said, the market "appears to be the location for amplification of infection in humans", leading to widespread transmission. "Evidence for widespread infections or cases in any other countries prior to December 2019 is lacking," it added. While spillover was the best supported theory on the evidence currently available, "until further requests for information are met, or more scientific data becomes available, the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it entered the human population will remain inconclusive," SAGO chair Marietjie Venter said at the press conference. Lab leak theories "could not be investigated or excluded", she said, because much of the needed information had not been made available. The experts requested unpublished information from other countries, notably Germany and the United States, but without success, she said. Earlier this week, one SAGO member resigned and three others asked for their names to be removed from the report. CRUCIAL QUESTION "Over the past five years, we have learned a lot about Covid-19 but there is one crucial question about the pandemic that we have not yet answered, how it started," Tedros said. "Despite our repeated requests, China has not provided hundreds of viral sequences from individuals with Covid-19 early in the pandemic, more detailed information on animals sold at markets in Wuhan, and information on work done and biosafety conditions at laboratories in Wuhan," he said. He said WHO has requested access to intelligence reports by governments around the world on the origins of Covid-19. US President Donald Trump's administration has officially embraced the lab leak theory. MORAL IMPERATIVE Tedros said finding out how Covid-19 started was a moral imperative for those who lost their lives in the pandemic and to prevent further outbreaks. He said the virus was continuing to evolve, take lives and leave people suffering with post-Covid conditions, or so-called long Covid. Tedros said the WHO is appealing to countries with information about the origins of Covid-19 to share information.
LBCI
9 hours ago
- Health
- LBCI
All hypotheses on Covid-19 origins 'remain on the table': WHO chief
All hypotheses on how the Covid-19 pandemic began remain on the table, the World Health Organization said following an inconclusive investigation into the global catastrophe's origins. "As things stand, all hypotheses must remain on the table, including zoonotic spillover and lab leak," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference, adding that much of the required information requested, notably from China, had not been provided. AFP
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Cornwall GP loses registration for harassment of doctors
A doctor from Cornwall has been removed from the medical register for serious professional misconduct following a tribunal David Cartland was found to have harassed three doctors and a practice manager on X, Gettr and Instagram between 2022 and medical tribunal said the GP, who questioned the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine, had acted dishonestly in offering to provide Covid-19 exemption certificates to people regardless of whether they had a medical exemption, something Dr Cartland did not accept was Cartland told the BBC in a statement he "reacted poorly" and he had been the subject of a campaign of abuse and goading, adding that his patient care was "never challenged". Dr Cartland did not attend his Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service hearing, which concluded with his immediate erasure from the medical register after 17 allegations against him were found to be Moran, representing the General Medical Council, told the tribunal Dr Cartland had called one doctor an "evil witch", another "evil malicious scumbags" and said one medical professional had "a sexual interest in sheep". 'Despicable allegations' Dr Cartland's posts were also found to be "hostile to the LGBTQ+ community".The panel was told Dr Cartland made "despicable allegations" against one doctor relating to paedophilia with "absolutely no foundation".Mr Moran said Dr Cartland encouraged his followers to harass the complainants Dr Cartland, Paul Diamond told the panel the three doctors had been "just as bad as him".Dr Cartland's statement said he accepted he "reacted poorly" and apologised for "saying things that he should not have said". "[He] was subjected to a campaign of abuse, smearing and goading from some of those who opposed his views," it panel determined that when it came to offering Covid exemption certificates to people without a medical reason, Dr Cartland had acted dishonestly and that it amounted to serious misconduct. It was said that on 14 and 15 September 2023, Dr Cartland had a conversation with a person, "which did not appear to be a genuine inquiry by this person" asking for an exemption certificate with the intention to travel to the Moran said: "It is the case the doctor [Cartland] disagreed with the need to be vaccinated in order to carry out certain activities such as flying abroad… what is not entitled to do as a doctor, is to undermine the exemption system by providing an exemption when there is no medical reason."Dr Cartland's statement said he did not accept it was dishonest and in response to the tribunal findings said he remained "concerned at the scale of Covid-19 vaccines injuries and comorbidities" and "opposed the vaccine role out to children".It said he was a "highly qualified doctor" with an "exemplary record"."Some doctors who have been erased from the GMC register as a consequence of conducting surgery poorly where the patient has died."It said his mental wellbeing had been affected and he was unable to secure any statement also said surgeries "where he had secured employment were contacted by those opposed to his views and he found himself dismissed".Tribunal chair Claire Lindley said the panel accepted "there is evidence that Dr Cartland is a good doctor" and well-regarded by patients but concluded his online conduct was an example of "serious professional misconduct".She added: "Dr Cartland's actions online impact others, undermine public confidence and could damage the reputation of the profession."The panel decided on Thursday that Dr Cartland should be suspended immediately and could not continue to practice during the 28-day appeal window.
