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A new genetic analysis of the virus that causes Covid-19 taken from more than 7,600 patients around the world shows the virus has been circulating in people since late last year, and must have spread extremely quickly after the first infection.
Researchers in Britain looked at mutations in the virus and found evidence of quick spread, but not evidence the virus is becoming more easily transmitted or more likely to cause serious disease.
“The virus is changing, but this in itself does not mean it’s getting worse,” genetics researcher Francois Balloux of the University College London Genetics Institute told CNN.
Balloux and colleagues pulled viral sequences from a giant global database that scientists around the world are using to share data. They looked at samples taken at different times and from different places, and said they indicate that the virus first started infecting people at the end of last year.
“This rules out any scenario that assumes SARSCoV-2 may have been in circulation long before it was identified, and hence have already infected large proportions of the population,” Balloux’s team wrote in their report, published in the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution.
“Our results are in line with previous estimates and point to all sequences sharing a common ancestor towards the end of 2019, supporting this as the period when SARS-CoV-2 jumped into its human host,” the team wrote in the report, published Tuesday.
They also found genetic evidence that supports suspicions the virus was infecting people in Europe, the US and elsewhere weeks or even months before the first official cases were reported in January and February.
Balloux’s team had their findings reviewed by other experts, a process called peer review, before they were published in the journal. He said some reports by other teams, published online in on what are called pre-print websites, may have drawn incorrect conclusions.
There are at least 1,203,502 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 71,022 people have died the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases.
The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
Disney said its Shanghai Disneyland theme park will reopen to the public on May 11.
Shanghai Disneyland has been closed since January. Shanghai’s Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel reopened in March.
This will mark the first reopening of a Disney theme park since the pandemic prompted the shutdown of theme parks around the world.
Disney will require guests to wear masks, except when dining, and go through temperature screenings as well as use the government-issued Shanghai Health QR code, a contact tracing and early detection system used in China.
Disney said it will also control guest density, limit attendance with an advanced reservation and entry system, increase sanitization and disinfection measures, and train employees on contactless guest interaction.
Disney Parks Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Pamela Hymel, said in a statement to guests that this is “an encouraging sign for Disney parks and retail locations all over the world.”
Hymel said that the company is working on a plan for domestic US parks to reopen in phases, including the use of virtual queues.
Hymel did not specify whether guests to US Disney theme parks might have to wear face masks, but said, “We’ll follow guidance from the government and the medical community regarding enhanced screening measures and prevention measures, including those related to personal protective equipment (PPE), such as face coverings.”
The Trump administration is tracking coronavirus conditions in Mexico and Latin America amid concerns the situation may deteriorate and drive migration north as cases in the region increase.
As the virus sweeps through Latin America, the Department of Homeland Security has focused its attention on hospital capacity in the region, and whether the health infrastructure is equipped to adequately test and treat patients.
The administration has largely sealed US borders since the start of the outbreak, leaning on travel restrictions to stem the spread. Like the US, neighboring countries to the south are also wrestling with Covid-19. Over the weekend, Brazil surpassed 100,000 cases of the virus.
The virus has given way to some of the administration’s long-standing efforts to curtail immigration, including closing off the border. Senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of many of the administration’s immigration policies, has previously tried to use diseases, including influenza and the mumps, as grounds to tighten the border.
In recent days, President Trump has repeatedly remarked on the conditions in Latin America, suggesting in a tweet that California “doesn’t want people coming over the Southern Border” now there are rising coronavirus cases in Mexico. He also teased imposing restrictions on Brazil last week.
Over the weekend, Trump also spoke with Interim President Jeanine Áñez of Bolivia and President Mario Abdo Benítez of the Republic of Paraguay to discuss the response to the pandemic, offering to provide assistance to both countries.
Earlier in the year, the administration restricted travel from China and Iran. It later expanded those restrictions to most foreign nationals who were in Europe’s Schengen Area — 26 countries stretching from Iceland to Greece — and the United Kingdom and Ireland. Trump has heralded those efforts in his defense of the administration’s response to the coronavirus.
The US has curtailed travel on its borders and invoked public health law to implement strict measures on the US-Mexico border, which have also led to the swift removal of thousands of migrants, including children, and people seeking asylum.
The US has by far the highest number of people infected with coronavirus in the world.
The leading epidemiologist who advised the UK government on the coronavirus response has resigned from his government post today after the Telegraph newspaper reported he broke lockdown rules.
Professor Neil Ferguson, who is based at Imperial College in London, is one of the architects of the UK government stay-at-home strategy and was a prominent member of Britain’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which has been spearheading the coronavirus response.
In a statement to CNN, Ferguson said he accepted he made “an error of judgement and took the wrong course of action,” and therefore stepped back from his involvement in SAGE.
“I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic. The government guidance is unequivocal, and is there to protect all of us,” Ferguson said.
A top US general said there isn’t conclusive evidence on where the coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, saying “we don’t know” whether it began in a Chinese lab or a wet market.
Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley said, “Did it come out of the virology lab in Wuhan, did it occur in the wet market there in Wuhan or did it occur somewhere else? And the answer to that is we don’t know and as mentioned by many people various agencies both civilian and US government are looking at that.”
Some background: President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have repeatedly claimed there is evidence that Covid-19 originated in a Wuhan lab.
Milley said, “the weight of evidence is that it was natural and not manmade,” and also said while there was still not “conclusive evidence” on whether or not the virus was accidentally or deliberately released in Wuhan, China, “the weight of evidence is that it was probably not intentional.”
Intelligence shared among Five Eyes nations indicates it is “highly unlikely” that the coronavirus outbreak was spread as a result of an accident in a laboratory but rather originated in a Chinese market.
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For a second consecutive day in France, the number of people who have died from coronavirus has increased, the Ministry of Health said today.
At least 330 died in the past day, a spike after the number of fatalities had previously been decreasing.
A total of 25,531 people in France have now died after contracting the virus.
But the number of patients in critical care is decreasing, as is the overall number of hospitalizations.
US President Donald Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, Rep. John Ratcliffe, was grilled today by senators over his views about the intelligence community’s investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in China.
The Texas Republican faced questions from both Democrats and Republicans on whether he would provide intelligence to a President who might not want to hear it.
If confirmed as director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe would lead the 17 agencies that make up the intelligence community as head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which was created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ratcliffe said his primary focus for the intelligence community would be on the impact of coronavirus around the world, as well as questions about its origins in Wuhan, China.
Ratcliffe said he views China as the “greatest threat actor” to the United States right now, citing China’s role in the coronavirus outbreak along with cybersecurity and technology issues.
Asked if he’d seen evidence the coronavirus originated in a lab as the president has suggested, Ratcliffe said he had not. Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, then asked Ratcliffe if he’d seen evidence the virus originated in a Wuhan market. He also said he had not.
CNN reported Monday that intelligence shared among Five Eyes nations indicates it is “highly unlikely” that the coronavirus outbreak was spread as a result of an accident in a laboratory but rather originated in a Chinese market, according to two Western officials who cited the intelligence assessment.
The UK will have to adjust to a “new normal” as authorities consider the next steps in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said today.
Society will have to adapt to “safe new ways to work, to travel, to interact and to go about our daily lives,” Raab said during the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing. The UK now has the second-highest death toll in the world from the virus, following only the US.
Later this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will update the country on the measures needed to protect the National Health Service (NHS) and avoid the risk of a second peak.
An experimental coronavirus vaccine entering human trials in the US may be available in many millions of doses by the end of 2020, the CEO of BioNTech has told CNN.
The German drug maker has partnered with US giant Pfizer to distribute a potential vaccine which is already in human trials in Germany.
CEO Ugur Şahin believes the regulatory approval process could be sped up from what is historically an 18-month time frame due to the global pandemic.
Şahin believes Covid-19 will be responsive to a vaccine which is he calls the “most important aspect” of vaccine development. He said the second aspect is the “very encouraging” pre-clinical data.
“We see vaccine responses, we see strong vaccine responses at even low doses. And we believe that this vaccine response, since we have seen that in different animal models will also translate into vaccine responses in human subjects,” Şahin said.
If it is approved by the regulators, Şahin said the partners are “prepared to go as fast as possible” to get the vaccine to the population.
Turkish customs officials have seized 79,000 surgical and 8,500 filtered masks stuffed into pillowcases that were outbound from the Istanbul Airport cargo department. The final destination of the illegal cargo hasn’t been revealed.
Turkey has placed a trade restriction on the export of personal protective equipment (PPE), which requires approval from the Turkish Health Ministry during the coronavirus outbreak.
Turkey has delivered PPE and medical equipment to more than 50 countries since the outbreak including donations to Spain, Italy, the UK and the US.
Customs agents were alerted to the illegal shipment when X-ray scans showed unusually high density in the cargo boxes, the Trade Ministry said.
Tracing back the shipment, customs officials raided an address and found 441,480 surgical masks, 19,450 filtered masks, and eight boxes of nano-fiber textile as well as vacuuming equipment for packaging. All masks and related equipment worth nearly half a million dollars were confiscated and two people have been arrested.
Lebanon has extended movement restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus an additional two weeks, to now end on May 24.
So far, Lebanon has reported 741 positive cases and 25 people have died from the virus. Restrictions have further exacerbated the country’s deep and long-running financial crisis.
In a five-phase plan to gradually reopen the country, Lebanon has already eased some of the measures imposed on March 15, allowing restaurants to reopen this week with a 30% customer capacity.
It’s also extended opening hours for some commercial and industrial enterprises and is allowing public transport vehicles to operate with limited passengers under specific conditions.
Announcing the extension in movement restrictions today, the country’s Information Minister Manal Abdel-Samad said some are dismissing the measures as if they have ended.
Why this matters: Cash-strapped Lebanon is facing growing turmoil after the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak sparked violent protests over rising hunger and poverty. The government believes that up to 75% of people are in need of aid.
The number of people who have died from coronavirus in the UK is now the highest in Europe and second only to the US globally.
The UK today surpassed Italy’s death toll, as Britain’s foreign secretary announced the number of those who have died from the virus has now reached 29,427. In Italy, 29,315 people have died. The US has lost almost 70,000 people to the virus.
There was an increase of 4,406 cases in the UK today, bringing the total number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus to 194,990, Dominic Raab said.
So far, 1,383,842 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the UK.
The number of positive coronavirus cases in Italy now stands at 98,467, a drop of 1,513 since yesterday. The country has taken the first delicate steps towards lifting its lockdown, with around 4 million returning to work this week.
Since Monday, 236 people died from the virus, an increase of 0.81%. The death toll now stands at 29,315.
The number of patients in intensive care also continues to drop. There were 1,427 patients in intensive care today, 52 fewer than yesterday. The number of recoveries increased by 2,352 cases to a total of 85,231.
The total number of cases in Italy so far, including deaths and recoveries, is 213,013.
The UK car market suffered its worst month in more than seven decades in April as coronavirus restrictions forced dealerships to close, pushing sales of new vehicles down by more than 97%.
Just over 4,320 cars were sold to private buyers, businesses and fleets last month in Britain, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, compared with roughly 161,000 in April 2019. The industry association described the sales decline as “the steepest of modern times.”
With showrooms closed and potential buyers sheltering at home, the industry group said that only 871 cars were sold to private buyers during the month. Many of those were battery electric vehicles such as Tesla’s Model 3 that customers had on order.
The monthly sales total is the weakest since February 1946, when 4,044 cars were sold in Britain as the country struggled to regain its footing in the immediate aftermath of World War II.
The UK has been under lockdown since late March, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs, restaurants, theaters, cinemas and gyms to close as part of an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Scotland will review social distancing restrictions but significant changes are “highly unlikely” by this Thursday, First Minster Nicola Sturgeon said at a coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh.
She said new data outlines “careful and gradual” changes to lockdown restrictions, but stressed they will only be implemented “when we judge it is safe to make them, which I am afraid is not right now”.
The options include re-configuring schools and businesses to allow for some restrictions to be eased and for more people to interact in smaller groups both outdoors and inside.
The Scottish government last week advised people to wear face coverings in enclosed public spaces, in a break from the UK-wide approach to tackling the spread of coronavirus.
Sturgeon cautioned that a full reopening of the country too early could lead to a resurgence in the virus that would overwhelm Scotland’s health services and lead to many more deaths.
Scotland has 12,437 reported cases, with 1,620 registered deaths.
Virgin Atlantic will cut 3,150 jobs across all functions as part of its strategy to reduce cost and preserve cash. The airline is working closely with unions and a company-wide consultation period of 45 days begins today.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) called the news devastating saying “this is another terrible blow for the industry and is evidence of the dire situation facing UK aviation.”
Virgin Atlantic also plans to end flights from London’s Gatwick airport. The firm says it will retain landing slots so it could resume if customer demand returns.
“Following the pattern of previous crises including 9/11 and the Global Financial Crisis, capacity across the aviation industry will significantly reduce, with recovery to pre-crisis levels expected to take up to three years,” the company said.
The airline added it continues to explore all available options for additional external funding and remains in talks with stakeholders and the government.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced countries to seal their borders and impose travel restrictions to certain areas. Airlines are scaling back their schedules, canceling flights and suspending some routes entirely.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has warned investors it may be forced to go out of business.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, the company said its accounting firm has “substantial doubt” about Norwegian’s ability to continue as a going concern because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Companies with this kind of dire outlook are sometimes able to turn things around and survive, although it often takes a trip through bankruptcy to shed debt and other liabilities in order to do so.
Norwegian suspended sailings of its fleets on March 14, along with an industrywide shutdown. That shutdown has been extended through at least June 30.
The cruise industry has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic as there were several high profile ships with multiple people testing positive for the coronavirus. Many died from the disease.
Some ships had difficulty finding ports where they could discharge their passengers.
Spain’s control of the coronavirus pandemic cannot be pinned on hopes of a vaccine, a top health official told the government today.
The Director for Health Emergencies Dr. Fernando Simón, said while it is his belief there will be a vaccine at some point, “other tools allow us to control the epidemic and reduce the impact on public health.”
The number of deaths from coronavirus in Spain is up by 185 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 25,613. A total of 219,329 infections have been recorded in the country.
Daily numbers of recoveries outweigh the new infections rate by two and a half times, so “the figures are favorable, indicating a good process toward transition” said Simón, referring to Spain’s confinement de-escalation strategy toward a so-called new normality.
