China is investigating the origins of Covid-19 in tests on tens of thousands of blood samples from the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified, a Chinese official has said.
Up to 200,000 samples were highlighted by the World Health Organisation as a potential clue to when and where the coronavirus first crossed into humans.
It comes as US President Joe Biden calls for transparency over the emergence of the virus.
The samples in the Wuhan Blood Centre are thought to span 2019, providing real-time tissue samples from many of the population in the central Chinese city where SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have first infected humans.
Chinese officials said blood bank samples are retained for two years in case they are needed as evidence in any lawsuits related to blood donations they came from.
That two-year waiting period will soon expire for the key months of October and November 2019, when most experts think the virus could first have infected humans.
Preparation for testing is now under way and set to begin once the two-year limit has been reached, an official from China's National Health Commission told CNN.
“This provides the closest in the world we've seen of real-time samples to help us understand the timing of the outbreak event,” said Huang Yanzhong, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
They “absolutely will contain vital clues”, said Maureen Miller, associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University.
She urged China to permit foreign experts to observe the process.
“No one will believe any results that China reports unless there are qualified observers at the very least,” she said.
The head of the Chinese team working on the WHO investigation, Liang Wannian, first said in July that China would test the samples.
He said once Chinese experts “have the results, they will deliver them to both the Chinese and foreign expert teams".
He said the samples came from the opening tube of a donor blood pouch, sealed shut and then stored, and Chinese experts had “made several assessments and evaluations on the testing methods and action plan, which will be implemented after the expiry” of the two-year limit.
The samples, if stored correctly, could contain crucial signs of the first antibodies made by humans against the disease, experts say.
Mr Liang said in July that while the first reported case was in Wuhan on December 8, 2019, “our research and the previous related research papers of Chinese scientists fully suggest ... December 8 is probably not the primary case.
“There might be other cases that occurred before.”
The Biden administration conducted a 90-day review of the intelligence over how the virus originated.
An unclassified report had officials still considering both natural transmission from animal to humans and a lab leak as plausible theories – unable to determine which was the more likely.
Mr Biden said: “Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People's Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it.”
RESULT
Valencia 3
Kevin Gameiro 21', 51'
Ferran Torres 67'
Atlanta 4
Josip Llicic 3' (P), 43' (P), 71', 82'
The%20specs
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
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What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
ELECTION%20RESULTS
%3Cp%3EMacron%E2%80%99s%20Ensemble%20group%20won%20245%20seats.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20second-largest%20group%20in%20parliament%20is%20Nupes%2C%20a%20leftist%20coalition%20led%20by%20Jean-Luc%20Melenchon%2C%20which%20gets%20131%20lawmakers.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20far-right%20National%20Rally%20fared%20much%20better%20than%20expected%20with%2089%20seats.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20centre-right%20Republicans%20and%20their%20allies%20took%2061.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
