Coronavirus: live updates
The World Health Organisation said on Friday that the second stage of an investigation into the origins of coronavirus should include further studies in China and lab “audits".
In a closed-door briefing to member states, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus proposed five priorities for the next phase of the investigation.
They included “audits of relevant laboratories and research institutions operating in the area of the initial human cases identified in December 2019", a copy of his opening statement provided by the WHO showed.
He also suggested investigators should focus on “studies prioritising geographic areas with the earliest indication of circulation of Sars CoV-2".
And he called for more studies of animal markets in and around the Chinese city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first detected.
The UN health agency has been under intensifying pressure for a new, more in-depth investigation of Covid-19's origins.
The WHO only managed to send a team of independent, international experts to Wuhan in January — more than a year after Covid-19 first surfaced there in late 2019 — to help their Chinese counterparts probe the pandemic's origins.
The long-delayed report after the first phase of the investigation was published in late March, but drew no firm conclusions about how the virus that causes Covid first jumped to humans.
Instead, it ranked several hypotheses according to how likely the investigators believed they were, finding that it was most probable that the virus jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate animal, while a theory involving the virus leaking from a laboratory was deemed “extremely unlikely".
The investigation and report have faced criticism for lacking transparency and access, and for not evaluating the lab-leak theory more deeply.
Dr Tedros, who has always maintained that all theories remained on the table, told journalists on Thursday that the push to rule out the possible link to a lab leak had been “premature".
China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rejected that, standing by the first mission's conclusion that Covid-19 having escaped from a lab was “extremely unlikely”, and added that “this issue should not be politicised".
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
SQUADS
South Africa:
Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada
Coach: Ottis Gibson
Bangladesh:
Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.
Coach: Chandika Hathurusingha
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
