The World Health Organization’s top emergency expert said on Friday it would be “highly speculative” for the WHO to say the coronavirus did not emerge in China, where it was first identified in a food market in December last year. From a report: China is pushing a narrative via state media that the virus existed abroad before it was discovered in…
Tag: Mike Ryan
Denmark Plans To Cull 15 Million Minks After Coronavirus Mutation Spreads To Humans
A Slashdot reader writes: Denmark plans to cull its entire population of roughly 15 million minks in farms after the animals spread a mutation of the coronavirus to humans. The country’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said at a press conference Wednesday that the mutated virus could spread to other countries and it “may pose a risk to the effectiveness of a…
WHO Says No Change To COVID-19 Transmission Guidance After US Draft Change
The World Health Organization has not changed its policy on aerosol transmission of the coronavirus, it said on Monday after U.S. health officials published draft new guidance by mistake warning that it can spread through airborne particles. From a report: Mike Ryan, executive director of the UN agency’s emergencies programme, said he would follow up with the U.S. Centers for Disease…
WHO Sees First Results From COVID Drug Trials Within Two Weeks
The World Health Organization (WHO) should soon get results from clinical trials it is conducting of drugs that might be effective in treating COVID-19 patients, its Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday. From a report: “Nearly 5,500 patients in 39 countries have so far been recruited into the Solidarity trial,” he told a news briefing, referring to clinical studies…
WHO Lauds Lockdown-Ignoring Sweden As a ‘Model’ For Countries Going Forward
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Post: The World Health Organization lauded Sweden as a “model” for battling the coronavirus as countries lift lockdowns — after the nation controversially refused restrictions. Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s top emergencies expert, said Wednesday there are “lessons to be learned” from the Scandinavian nation, which has largely relied on citizens…