WHO team believes virus jumped to humans from animal; House Dems include $1,400 payments in bill
WUHAN, China (AP) — The coronavirus most likely first appeared in humans after jumping from an animal, a team of international and Chinese scientists looking for the origins of COVID-19 said Tuesday, dismissing as unlikely an alternate theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab.
A closely watched visit by World Health Organization experts to Wuhan — the Chinese city where the first coronavirus cases were discovered — did not dramatically change the current understanding of the early days of the pandemic, said Peter Ben Embarek, the leader of the WHO mission.
But it did “add details to that story,” he said at a news conference as the group wrapped up a nearly four-week visit to the city. Read more:
Here’s an update on all developments. Scroll or swipe further for in-depth coverage.
- House Democrats proposed an additional $1,400 in direct payments to individuals as Congress began piecing together a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that tracks President Joe Biden’s plan for battling the pandemic and reviving a still staggering economy.
- Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that indoor restaurant dining can reopen in New York City at 25% capacity on Friday, two days before the Valentine’s Day opening he had announced earlier.
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive Monday for the coronavirus.
- The Vatican is calling for a new paradigm of care for older people after what it calls the “massacre” wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately killed people living in nursing homes.
- South Africa is considering giving a COVID-19 vaccine that is still in the testing phase to health workers, after suspending the rollout of another shot that preliminary data indicated may be only minimally effective against the mutated form of the virus dominating the country.
For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for the latest virus numbers.
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