The search for the reason: So far it is unclear exactly where Covid-19 has its origin. US researchers are now making serious allegations against a research institution schimin Wuhan.
- China is considered the country of origin of the novel corona virus *
- But where exactly it originated is still unclear
- US researchers * had previously issued a warning
- Here you will find the Corona News from Germany, current numbers of cases in Germany as a map * and current recommendations on Corona protective measures *.
Update from April 20, 9:33 a.m .: Once again, Donald Trump has to be publicly corrected by an expert . Because, as doctor and presidential adviser Deborah Birx makes clear, there is no certainty that the corona virus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China. "Every time we have a new virus, it is important to find out its origin , and I think we are still a long way from finding it," said the 64-year-old on TV "CBS": "I have no proof that it was an accident in a laboratory. ”The only thing that is certain is that the new virus came from China.
Update April 19, 10:44: In the United States there is growing doubt on the previous theory that the coronavirus is created on a wild animal market in Wuhan . US intelligence agencies are currently investigating suspicions that the virus originated in a bio laboratory near Wuhan . Now the head of the Institute of Virology in the metropolis of central China has rejected American accusations that the corona virus could have come from his laboratory.
"The virus never came from us, " Yuan Zhiming said in an interview with the state television on Sunday in Chinese media. "We know exactly what virus research is going on at the institute and how viruses and samples are handled," he continued. Zhiming also emphasized that no one in his laboratory had been infected with the corona virus.
Corona: Virologist from Wuhan Denies American Allegations
The virologist also said it was understandable that his laboratory in Wuhan, the place of origin of the pandemic , aroused associations. "But it is bad when some try to mislead people," criticized Zhiming. Earlier, President Trump had taken up the thesis that the coronavirus could be from the Zhiming Institute . "I know it is impossible," the Chinese virologist firmly denied. There is no evidence for this. "It is entirely based on speculation ."
Zhiming also contested the thesis - already rejected by researchers - that the virus may have been generated in the laboratory. "There is no evidence to show that the virus has artificial or synthetic traces, " he said, explaining his view of the theory. According to previous knowledge, the new type of corona virus in Wuhan, like the Sars virus in 2002 , had started from an animal market where the first diseases had appeared. Experts believe that it comes from bats and could also have been spread via another animal * as a host.
Corona: Trump threatens China with consequences if the virus is deliberately bred
April 19 update, 9:52 a.m .: After the previous day, it became known that US intelligence agencies were suspected that the coronavirus could have come from an organic laboratory located outside of Wuhan and not from a wildlife market in the Chinese metropolis, which now has US President Donald Trump reacts.
"Was it a mistake that got out of control, or was it done on purpose? If it was a mistake - a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible for it, there should certainly be consequences , ”Trump said, according to a Bild.de report, during his almost daily Corona letter in the White House.
Corona: Pandemic coordinator accuses China of disinformation
According to the US President, Covid-19 could have been stopped in China before it spread around the world. "It didn't happen and the whole world is suffering because of it," Trump criticized. The American pandemic coordinator Deborah Birx makes similar allegations. "There is never an excuse not to share information ," she said. "If it's the first country to have an outbreak, it has a moral obligation not only to talk about it, but also to provide the information that is critical to the rest of the world."
The Chinese government should have allowed US experts to investigate what was going on, Trump said. "They didn't want us there," he said. "I think they were ashamed. I think they knew it was bad. ”But the US is n't just criticizing China's handling of the corona outbreak . US politicians and experts also provide the number of deaths in mainland questioned . China had revised this up considerably on Friday.
Corona: US intelligence agencies check whether the virus originated in a laboratory
Update April 18, 10:45: reports the Washington Post and the transmitter Fox News , according to the going US - intelligence agencies after the suspect the coronavirus could consist of a outside the metropolis of Wuhan angesiedeltem bio lab originate. This would contradict reports from the Chinese authorities that the virus has spread to humans from a wildlife market in Wuhan.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology did not want to comment on the allegations on Friday. In February, however, it rejected the rumors already circulating at the time. The deputy director of the Wuhan virus research laboratory, Shi Zhengli, was one of the authors of the Chinese study, according to which Sars-Cov-2 comes from bats. In an interview with US scientific magazine Scientific American, Shi said that the Sars-Cov-2 genome, decrypted by her researchers, was not identical to any other pathogen in the laboratory.
London's King's College biosafety scientist Filippa Lentzos told AFP that the origin of the coronavirus pandemic remains unknown. There are indications that "could indicate a possible laboratory accident," Lentzos said. However, this is not proven.
Corona: Labor accusations against China - ZDF report expresses serious suspicion, Maas looks deeply
News from April 17th:
Update 16:38: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas explained with Bild how important it is to know where the virus came from and how it came about. "These are all questions that need to be answered, and I assume that China, as it is publicly represented, will play a constructive role in this." At the same time, he warns that the Chinese leadership will have enough in the next few weeks Ways to demonstrate how transparently she actually wants to deal with the virus.
Meuse becomes even clearer when it comes to the reopened animal markets in Wuhan. He could "not understand". The fight against pandemics is about everyone doing their part. “Then you may also have to change cultural customs. We do that here too: we treat each other differently, we keep our distance, we no longer shake hands, we walk around with masks. ”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is calling for resistance in the United States - it's about corona curfews in U.S. states.
Corona: Labor accusations against China - ZDF report expresses serious suspicion, Maas looks deeply
Update April 17, 09:28: So now but - China reports 1,290 deaths from Wuhan, which were previously unknown - so that the deaths double in the province on the 3869th The fact that these deaths were not known until now, established China with even a serious Personnel and lack of treatment options at the start of the pandemic.
This correction comes at a time when criticism of China about dealing with the virus is growing louder. Critical voices are also voiced in the ZDF-heute-Journal - above all, the fact that WHO prevents Taiwan from becoming an independent member is an indication that WHO is letting China say too much. A China correspondent goes further and says that current WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus "has probably been raised by China".
Heiko Maas in conversation with Marietta Slomka (ZDF).
© Screenshot ZDF
In the following interview with Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) , moderator Marietta Slomka also spoke about the suspicion that the corona virus could have been spread to people in an accident in a Chinese laboratory . Maas says: "I would not rule out that the WHO also has to deal with these questions." It is also one of the tasks of the WHO to provide information - WHO must therefore continue to be supported by the USA.
Can we go on vacation again in the summer? Heiko Maas comments on the vacation plans with a clear assessment.
Update of April 16: Over 2 million people worldwide have been infected with the corona virus, 134,000 have already died of the consequences. It is not yet clear where the virus comes from. There is some skepticism in the reports from China from the United States .
When asked during a press conference whether the virus came from a Chinese laboratory , Donald Trump * said: "I don't want to say that," said the US President: "But I will tell you that we hear this story more and more. “The US government is therefore investigating what is happening in China very carefully. Scientists meanwhile do not assume that the corona virus is man-made, but that natural transmission is most likely.
{UPDATED April 13th} Confirmed # COVID19 Cases Outside China # coronavirus pic.twitter.com/yNZYSEvuT0
- Worldwide Engineering (@wrldwidnginring) April 14, 2020Germany meanwhile does not share the US's skepticism about the figures from China. "The Federal Government is not aware that China has withheld data," the German Ministry of Health claims against the Rheinische Post . The FDP faction had followed up on the US allegations against China.
Coronavirus - A Chinese institute is suspected to have triggered the pandemic.
© dpa / Ma Ping
A different way of counting due to the not precisely defined definition of the cases of infection would initially have led to inconsistencies in China . In this regard, the health department writes: "Taking into account the situation in the meantime, the adjustment of the case definition during the epidemic in China is understandable."
The surge in Corona cases in China was therefore due to the fact that the People's Republic initially had an imprecise definition and it was only when this was tightened that the numbers rose. The United States and other countries have accused China of covering up the extent of the spread earlier this year.
Coronavirus: Harrowing Accusations against China - Negligence in Virus Tests on Bats in Wuhan?
First report from April 15: Wuhan - where exactly does the corona virus come from ? Researchers around the world are concerned with this question - but so far there is no answer . The search appears difficult, only a few details are revealed by the Chinese government.
However, the region of origin is known: the central Chinese province of Hubei and its now world-famous city of Wuhan . But how exactly could the virus spread from there to the whole country and beyond *?
Coronavirus: The search for the origin of the virus leads to Wuhan
The Chinese government initially announced that the coronavirus had spread to the first humans at a seafood market . But today this can be clearly refuted, as the Washington Post reports. Chinese researchers announced the first known Covid-19 case on December 1. However, this person was demonstrably not connected to the fish market, nor did a third of the people subsequently infected.
But now a research institute * based in Wuhan is coming back in sight. Already two years before the outbreak, some US researchers raised concerns . These were sent to the " Wuhan Institute of Virology" by the US embassy in Beijing in January 2018 . Two official and concerned warnings about Washington were the result. The reason: weaknesses in security and research management . The warning included a request that the United States support the institute in its work with bats and corona viruses . Research is important but very dangerous in this way.
Coronavirus: test on bats classified as too dangerous
The US researchers also report the results of the Chinese institute and its project manager Shi Zhengli that there is suspicion of transmission of SARS-like coronaviruses in bats to humans.
As early as 2015, researchers expressed concerns about the dangerous work of Zhengli's team. In October 2014, the US stopped payments that support research that makes viruses even more dangerous or contagious.
There is currently no evidence that the corona virus was developed at the institute, says Xiao Qiang , a researcher at the University of California. However, this does not mean that the virus cannot come from the institute.
Coronavirus: The Chinese government is currently not providing information
Similar concerns also exist about the neighboring and less secure laboratory " Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention ".
The Chinese government is currently refusing to provide any information about the origin of the virus. The report by the US researchers was deleted from the Chinese Institute's website. Researchers and journalists who had previously reported on the spread of the virus had disappeared.
Meanwhile, a German reporter accompanied a corona relief operation in Colombia - and experienced a dramatic flight
The Munich Curtis Warren Puckett was ill with the Covid-19. The risk patient was cured thanks to a new drug *.
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