Covid-19 world updates: US suspicious of Wuhan lab ‘for years’
America’s top secret intelligence agency had concerns about the infamous Wuhan lab years before the pandemic as cases surge in the US but stabilise around the globe.
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America’s top-secret intelligence agency was reportedly troubled about the chemical and biological actions at the Wuhan Institute of Virology for at least five years before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Former director of the National Security Agency Mike Rogers, appointed under president Barack Obama, has revealed there were concerns about the infamous Wuhan lab during his time in charge of the agency from 2014 to 2018, according to a report in The Australian.
His comments, which are featured in the upcoming book, What Really Happened in Wuhan, are also backed up by former secretary of state and CIA director Mike Pompeo, who said the US government knew about the Wuhan laboratories, and their biological risks and safety concerns, when the pandemic hit.
“Of course we knew the history of the lab because there had been Western connections to it,” Mr Pompeo reportedly says in the book.
“We knew a great deal about the laboratory. The French built it, designed it, we had provided scientists there that had partnered with them on research so we knew a good deal about what was taking place.
“And so it didn’t take us long after January (2020) before we had as a working hypothesis this possibility (of a lab leak).”
Mr Rogers, a highly decorated former US Navy admiral, served as director of the NSA, which specialises in signals intelligence, from 2014, when Obama was president, through to 2018, under president Donald Trump.
He was also a member of the military’s Joint Staff, the most senior uniformed leaders within the Department of Defence, during the first stage of the Iraq War.
“There’s always a concern about biological and chemical activities,” Mr Rogers said. “This is an area, from an intelligence perspective and a national security perspective, we pay attention to and we put resources together to try to understand. It’s one reason why you saw the cables coming out of the embassy in Beijing. It’s an area we very much publicly acknowledge we’re concerned about and pay attention to.”
What Really Happened in Wuhan also describes how senior Morrison government officials were baffled over the Trump administration’s early dismissal of the coronavirus as a hoax or similar to the flu, seemingly ignoring intelligence that a global pandemic could happen.
Former Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey reportedly told Trump’s then chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, and deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell in March 2020 that Americans should start to wear masks, as the virus began to spread within the US.
He reportedly made the comments at a private Washington dinner party, but he was shouted down and told masks were “useless” and Covid-19 was nothing more than a “mild flu”.
Mr Hockey reveals the senior officials were also concerned about the virus “potentially undermining Mr Trump’s re-election strategy”.
US CASES SURGE, REST OF WORLD STABILISES
It comes as North America suffered a new surge in coronavirus infections this week and US deaths increased by a fifth, while the pandemic stabilised in the rest of the world.
The number of new daily cases around the world decreased slightly by three percent this week to 639,315, according to an official tally to Thursday.
The pandemic appears to be stabilising after gaining ground since mid-year fanned by the highly contagious Delta variant which has become predominant in most countries.
However, the confirmed cases only reflect a fraction of the actual number of infections, with varying counting practices and levels of testing in different countries.
As the pandemic continues to worsen in the United States/Canada region, where the number of cases increased by eight per cent, Oceania saw a 23 per cent increase in infections.
But cases fell 26 per cent in Africa and 17 per cent in Latin America. There were also slight decreases in Europe of three per cent, and in Asia and the Middle East of two per cent each.
US STAR’S BIZARRE COVID TREATMENT
Meanwhile, American comedian Joe Rogan, whose podcast racks up millions of listens but who has faced criticism for suggesting young people need not get vaccinated against Covid-19, said Wednesday he had tested positive for the virus.
In a post on Instagram, Rogan said he was tested after showing mild symptoms following a trip to Florida, which is currently battling surging cases of the highly infectious Delta variant.
He said he had taken a number of drugs to treat the virus, including antiparasitic medicine ivermectin, demand for which has surged in the United States despite scant evidence of its effectiveness against Covid.
“A wonderful heartfelt thank you to modern medicine for pulling me out of this so quickly and easily,” Rogan said.
Rogan’s podcast is one of the world’s most popular, often featuring fellow comedians as well as academics, journalists and athletes discussing everything from fitness to UFOs and psychedelic drugs.
He signed a reported $100 million deal with Spotify last year, giving the music streaming giant exclusive rights to his show.
But the podcast has long drawn criticism for giving a platform to conspiracy theories and disinformation, with Rogan publicly rebuked by the White House this year for suggesting young people do not need to receive Covid jabs.
“If you’re like 21 years old and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I’ll go, ‘No,’” he said.
“If you’re a healthy person and you’re exercising all the time and you’re young and you’re eating well, I don’t think you need to worry about this.” Rogan has not stated publicly whether he received a Covid vaccine.
UK TO OFFER THIRD COVID JAB
The UK government, meanwhile, will offer a third vaccine jab to half a million British with severely weakened immune systems.
British health minister Sajid Javid said that a third dose will be offered by the state-run health service to those who “may have received less protection against the virus from two vaccine doses”.
Mr Javid announced the rollout after the government advisory body the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended a third dose for those aged over 12 who have conditions such as leukaemia, advanced HIV or recent organ transplants.
It said that the third dose by preference should be an mRNA vaccine — so, not the AstraZeneca jab.
The announcement comes as the UK government is considering whether to follow several other countries in issuing booster jabs to the population as a whole, potentially in early September alongside the flu jab.
Javid said that the “third primary vaccine” jab was not the same as a booster shot.
He said the government was “continuing to plan” for a booster program to begin in September, prioritising those most at risk, including those eligible for a third vaccine dose.
The World Health Organisation has condemned the rush by wealthy countries to provide Covid vaccine booster shots, while billions around the world have yet to receive a single dose.
In a report published on Wednesday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said there was no urgent need to administer booster jabs to the fully vaccinated — though it said an extra dose may benefit those with weak immune systems.
ARDERN PLAYS DOWN NZ, AUS COMPARISONS
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has tried to play down comparisons with her country’s Covid-19 outbreak and those in Victoria and NSW.
It comes as University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely, a Kiwi based in Melbourne, said told New Zealand radio Newstalk ZB said he hoped that the country could quash the virus.
“I certainly hope that you can get on top of your outbreak and re-eliminate [Covid], and that you’re not living with the virus like us,” Prof Blakely told host Mike Hosking on Thursday.
Prof Blakeley said he could see some similarities between how the Covid-19 is spreading in Victoria and NSW, and in New Zealand.
“There are some populations for whom the [virus’] reproductive rate is much higher. Over here [in Melbourne] in some western suburbs we have casualised workforce, multigenerational families, English not at the primary language. If you look at New Zealand, that’s exactly what you’ve got in South Auckland,” he said.
“And with that population it’s very hard … to re-eliminate [the virus].
“So I’m actually very concerned that Auckland at least, and therefore New Zealand by extension is heading the same as NSW and Victoria. Although I think you should still be fighting it really hard for at least another week.”
Melbourne recorded 176 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Thursday, while New Zealand’s most recently-released data showed 75 new cases linked to the Delta community outbreak on Wednesday.
Ms Ardern attempted to play down comparisons between NSW and Victoria.
She told New Zealand radio station ZM on Thursday that the east coast outbreaks had been going for longer.
“They’ve been bubbling away for a while and haven’t been able to stamp out cases, so they’re keeping restrictions while they vaccinate,” Ms Ardern told ZM’s Fletch, Vaughan and Megan.
WHO MONITORING NEW COVID ‘MU VARIANT’
The World Health Organisation is monitoring another new Covid variant with mutations that they fear could make it resistant to vaccines.
The Mu variant, also known as B. 1.621, was added as a “variant of interest” to the organisation’s watch list this week.
“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape,” the bulletin said.
Preliminary data indicated that it may evade vaccines in a way similar to the Beta variant, but experts said that more research is necessary on the strain.
There is widespread concern over the emergence of new coronavirus mutations as infection rates are ticking up globally again, with the highly transmissible Delta variant taking hold – especially among the unvaccinated – and in regions where antivirus measures have been relaxed.
The WHO currently identifies four Covid-19 variants of concern, including Alpha, which is present in 193 countries, and Delta, present in 170 countries.
Five variants, including Mu, are to be monitored.
After being detected in Colombia, Mu has since been reported in other South American countries and in Europe.
The WHO said its global prevalence has declined to below 0.1 per cent among sequenced cases. In Colombia, however, it is at 39 per cent.
CONTAMINATED VACCINE SHOCKS JAPAN
Two Japanese regions have suspended use of some Moderna Covid-19 shots after more cases of contamination were spotted.
The move came a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men who received doses from other tainted Moderna batches – though the cause of death is unknown.
Okinawa prefecture, in southern Japan, said it had suspended use of Moderna shots at a major vaccination centre in the city of Naha, while Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo, also said it had paused use of contaminated lots.
“We are suspending the use of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines as foreign substances were spotted” in some of them, authorities in Okinawa said in a statement.
In Gunma an official told AFP: “We continue use of Moderna lots that are not affected by the incident.”
The contamination in Okinawa and Gunma follows the suspension of 1.63 million doses across Japan on Thursday after the deaths of two men aged 30 and 38 in August following their second Moderna doses.
Those doses were drawn from one of the three batches suspended by the government on Thursday.
Japan’s health ministry said however that it was investigating the cause of death and it is unknown if there is a causal link with the vaccine.
“At this time, we do not have any evidence that these deaths are caused by the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, and it is important to conduct a formal investigation to determine whether there is any connection,” Moderna and its Japanese distributor Takeda said in a joint statement on Saturday.
The nature of the particles found in the vials, which were manufactured by a Moderna contractor in Europe, is also not known yet. A pharmacist saw several black particles in one vial, the BBC reported.
“The vials have been sent to a qualified lab for analysis and initial findings will be available early next week,” Moderna and Takeda said.
The contractor, Spanish pharmaceutical firm ROVI, said in a statement Thursday that it was investigating the cause of contamination and the doses were only distributed in Japan.
KISS FRONTMAN TESTS POSITIVE
Gene Simmons has tested positive to Covid-19 – just days after fellow Kiss frontman Paul Stanley revealed he had the virus.
The legendary rock band announced Wednesday AEST it will postpone its next four tour dates in the United States as Simmons, 72, recovers.
“While Paul Stanley recently tweeted that he has recovered from Covid, Gene Simmons has now tested positive and is experiencing mild symptoms. The band and crew will remain at home and isolate for the next 10 days,” the band said in a statement.
Doctors have indicated the tour should be able to resume on September 9th at FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA,” a post on the band’s website reads.
The band has previously said they and their crew are “fully vaccinated” and “operated in a bubble independently to safeguard everyone as much as possible at each show and in between shows.”
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Simmons urged fans to get the Covid vaccine.
“I would highly recommend for everybody to get two Pfizer or Moderna shots, please — for the rest of us. Even if you believe the Earth is flat, it’s not,” he said.
Kiss is due to tour Australia in March and April, 2022.
The band was forced to cancel the Australian leg of the End of the Road World Tour in November 2019, when Stanley fell ill with a serious case of influenza.
EUROPE REACHES 70PC VAX TARGET
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday local time that 70 per cent of adults in the European Union were now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, hitting a target the bloc set for itself in January.
“Today we reached an important milestone in our vaccination campaign. Seventy per cent of adults in the EU are now fully vaccinated and that means 250 million people are fully immunised,” Ms Von der Leyen said in a video posted online.
Von der Leyen heads the European Commission, which is responsible for ordering vaccines for the EU’s 27 member states, and had already announced in July that 70 per cent of the adult population of the EU had received at least one dose.
The global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is now dominated by the battle against the Delta variant, a more contagious version of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
The World Health Organisation said on Monday local time that it feared the pandemic could kill an additional 236,000 people in Europe by December 1 and has expressed concern about the stagnating pace of vaccinations on the continent.
Brussels has stressed the need for the EU to reduce the “worrying gap” in vaccination rates between member states and urged national authorities to be ready for the injection of a new dose to boost immunity if scientific data confirm the need for it.
The rate of fully vaccinated adults is about 20 per cent in Bulgaria, 32.8 per cent in Romania, 49 per cent in Slovakia and 58.1 per cent in Poland.
The level is 72.5 per cent in France, 70.6 per cent in Germany, 76.7 per cent in Spain, and 85.5 per cent in Ireland, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Originally published as Covid-19 world updates: US suspicious of Wuhan lab ‘for years’
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