The World Health Organisation announced the preliminary findings from a fact-finding mission to Wuhan in China, where the coronavirus was first detected.
Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO virologist, said that their findings had uncovered information but did not radically change the picture of the outbreak from what was already known.
Here are six of the key findings of the WHO Wuhan investigation:
The four origins of Covid-19
The team looked at the four main hypotheses on where coronavirus came from.
These were: the direct transmission from an animal to a person; the transmission from one animal to another and then to a human; frozen food being a surface for the transmission to humans, or the virus escaping a laboratory.
“We took a systematic approach to look at all these and assessed the likelihood using a standardised set of parameters,” Mr Embarek said.
While they did not find a definitive explanation, the team said the findings suggested that the virus moved from one animal to humans through an intermediary. That process remains unclear.
“It will require more targeted research,” Mr Embarek said.
Where did Covid come from?
The disease is likely to have gone from a secondary animal to humans, investigators said.
Liang Wannian, an expert with China's Health Commission, said that bats and pangolins are potential candidates for transmission, but coronavirus samples found in those species were not identical with Sars-Cov-2 – the official name for the coronavirus.
But he said that samples from the bat caves in Wuhan, and from other animal sites, have so far failed to identify the presence of the virus that causes Covid-19.
Mr Embarek said it was not yet possible to pinpoint the intermediary animal.
Mr Liang said they had conducted PCR tests on 11,000 types of animals, including livestock and poultry in provinces across China, and found no positive cases.
They have collected 50,000 samples of the wild animals from 30 species and found no positive cases.
The pathway, Mr Embarek said, from the original animal to the Wuhan market, could have been very convoluted and could have crossed borders.
The lab breakout theory is ‘unlikely’
Since the early days of the pandemic last year, there was speculation and reports that claimed that the coronavirus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.
Mr Embarek said last week that the WHO team had held “very frank” discussions with Chinese scientists about the source of the pandemic, including the theories it leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Scientists at the laboratory conduct research on some of the world's most dangerous diseases, including strains of bat coronaviruses similar to the one that leads to Covid-19.
But, there is no evidence that the virus did escape the facility and the team concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” to be the origin of the pandemic.
Mr Embarek said their visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology indicated it was very unlikely to have escaped the lab and there was no evidence that it was being studied at the site.
“There was no publication or research on this virus in any laboratory in the world. … We also looked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the state of that laboratory and it was very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place,” he said. “We also know that when lab accidents happen, they are extremely rare.”
Mr Liang said there are two scenarios to consider with a lab escape hypothesis. The first was that the virus was engineered by humans and got out. This was refuted by scientists all over the world who studied the virus's make-up.
A second was that it was being researched and got out.
There is no evidence, he said, that the virus that leads to Covid-19 was being studied anywhere prior to December 2019.
“Without the previous existence of the virus there can be no leak,” he said.
So did it start at the ‘Wuhan market’?
Peter Daszak, a New York-based zoologist assisting the WHO-sponsored mission to focus on the animal side of the inquiry, said his trip to the fresh produce market in central Wuhan was useful.
The market sold mostly seafood, as well as meat that included freshly prepared wildlife.
It was a focus early in the outbreak, when cases occurred among workers and shoppers, suggesting it might have been where the virus jumped from animals to humans.
But subsequent research found earlier cases among people not linked to the market, undermining that theory.
“The seafood market may not be the first place to have an outbreak – it was not even necessarily the place with the first case. The case with the onset of December 8, [2019] has no relationship with the seafood market which saw its first case on December 12,” Mr Liang said.
The team admitted they do not know the exact role of the seafood market played in the pandemic.
Could frozen food have spread the virus?
Mr Embarek said the hypothesis that coronavirus is transmitted through trade of frozen cold chain products is possible.
They are still trying to map the transmission routes, “but frozen food is not ruled out as some of the frozen wild animals are known reservoirs of covid”.
“We also have to do much more for understanding the cold chain and frozen products. We know the virus can persist and survive in these cold and frozen environments, but we don't understand if the virus can then transmit to humans and we don't understand how it transmits,” Mr Embarek said.
Did it start in Wuhan at all?
Mr Liang said there had been no substantial spread of the virus in the city of Wuhan before the late 2019 outbreak. But, it is possible the coronavirus was circulating in other regions before Wuhan – although there is no specific evidence.
“The path to the [Wuhan] market could have taken a very long and convoluted route that includes movement and borders before it ended up in the market. It is important to follow up on clues,” Mr Embarek said.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The five pillars of Islam
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Newcastle United 1
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Red cards: Yedlin 57'
Man of the Match: Diogo Jota (Wolves)
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
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THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
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THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
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Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The biog
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Mr Stephen sells his luxury fragrances at selected perfumeries around the UAE, including the House of Niche Boutique in Al Seef.
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Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
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Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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Black Panther
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Company name: OneOrder
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Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
McIlroy's recent struggles
Last six stroke-play events (First round score in brackets)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tied for 4th (74)
The US Masters Tied for 7th (72)
The Players Championship Tied for 35th (73)
US Open Missed the cut (78)
Travellers Championship Tied for 17th (67)
Irish Open Missed the cut (72)
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
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Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
