Covid 19 coronavirus: Mutant strains, ghostly hotels, vaccine hoarding the new frontlines in epic struggle
1 Feb, 2021 04:00 PM
4 minutes to read
Empty corridors in one hotel, vaccine stockpiles and mutant variants loom large in new debates about how to defeat Covid-19.
Epidemiologist Dr Michael Baker said alert levels desperately needed revision due to new mutations and the fact New Zealand s four-tier system was almost a year old.
New Covid-19 varieties, including some believed to be more infectious than earlier strains, have emerged independently in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds up information on Covid-19 alert levels during a press conference at Parliament on March 21, 2020. There are calls for new revised alert levels. Photo / Getty
January 31, 2021
The mission has become politically charged, as China seeks to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak.
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
The World Heath Organization visited a Wuhan food market on Sunday to figure out the origins of the coronavirus.
The seafood market in the Chinese city was linked to many of the earliest infections reported in December of 2019.
The team also visited two hospitals at the center of the early outbreak.
Scientists initially suspected the virus came from wild animals sold in the Wuhan market, but the market itself has since been largely ruled out.
UPDATE 2-Spain rallies behind EU vaccine strategy Reuters 1/28/2021
(Recasts after foreign minister comments; adds quotes, new COVID-19 data)
MADRID, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Spain made clear on Thursday it supported the European Union s handling of a shortfall in COVID-19 vaccines after a leaked document suggested the health ministry was blaming Brussels.
In a draft agenda for a summit of regional health chiefs after cases ballooned due to holiday gatherings, the central government was critical of the EU, El Mundo reported earlier in the day, quoting the leaked document. It is the European Union that negotiates and signs the contracts, that is in charge of tracking them and making sure they are correctly fulfilled, it quoted the government as saying in the document.
Reuters | Updated: 29-01-2021 01:31 IST | Created: 29-01-2021 01:31 IST
Spain made clear on Thursday it supported the European Union s handling of a shortfall in COVID-19 vaccines after a leaked document suggested the health ministry was blaming Brussels.
In a draft agenda for a summit of regional health chiefs after cases ballooned due to holiday gatherings, the central government was critical of the EU, El Mundo reported earlier in the day, quoting the leaked document. It is the European Union that negotiates and signs the contracts, that is in charge of tracking them and making sure they are correctly fulfilled, it quoted the government as saying in the document.
By Reuters Staff
(Recasts after foreign minister comments; adds quotes, new COVID-19 data)
MADRID, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Spain made clear on Thursday it supported the European Union’s handling of a shortfall in COVID-19 vaccines after a leaked document suggested the health ministry was blaming Brussels.
In a draft agenda for a summit of regional health chiefs after cases ballooned due to holiday gatherings, the central government was critical of the EU, El Mundo reported earlier in the day, quoting the leaked document.
“It is the European Union that negotiates and signs the contracts, that is in charge of tracking them and making sure they are correctly fulfilled,” it quoted the government as saying in the document.