China recorded its first COVID-19 death in eight months on Thursday, as experts huddled to discuss worrying new strains of the coronavirus that are spreading rapidly around the globe.
The gathering in Geneva of the World Health Organization’s emergency committee comes as their colleagues landed in Wuhan for a long-delayed mission to find the origins of the virus.
More than 91 million people have been infected, with almost two million of them dying, according to figures widely thought to be an underestimate.
Much of the planet is enveloped in a second or third wave of the disease, with populations chafing under painful and economically damaging restrictions.
China – where the virus first emerged – has again locked down millions of people as it fights to control a fresh outbreak that has now claimed its first victim, sparking anguish on social media.
The hashtag “New virus death in Hebei” quickly ratcheted up 100 million views on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
New strains
There was some good news for those who have already had COVID-19, with one British study suggesting that recovery confers immunity for at least five months for most people.
The research will be welcomed by Britain’s under-pressure healthcare workers struggling to cope with surging caseloads caused in part by a new, more infectious strain of the virus.
That strain, and another identified in South Africa, are going under the microscope in Geneva on Thursday when the WHO’s emergency committee gathers.
The newly identified variants have been logged in dozens of countries.
The committee normally gathers every three months, but the WHO said the director-general pulled the meeting forward “to consider issues that need urgent discussion.”
Pope Francis gets jab
Both Pope Francis and his predecessor, former pope Benedict XVI, have received the coronavirus vaccine, the Vatican said on Thursday.
“I can confirm that as part of the Vatican City State vaccination programme to date, the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to Pope Francis and the Pope Emeritus,” spokesman Matteo Bruni said. AFP
