Corona ... Pompeo talks about "tremendous evidence" that the virus has emerged from a laboratory in China and Iran begins opening its mosques

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed today Sunday what he called "tremendous evidence" that the source of the Covid-19 epidemic is a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, while Iran decided to open some mosques because of the declining number of casualties.

"There is enormous evidence to suggest that this is its source," meaning Pompeo, he told ABC, but declined to comment on the issue of whether he believed his publication was intentional.

And a report in the American magazine Newsweek had previously raised the possibility of the emergence of the new corona virus as a result of unsafe laboratory practices in Wuhan, China.

The source stated that the US Defense Intelligence Agency updated its assessment of the origin of the new Corona virus, and hinted that it could be accidentally released from an infectious disease laboratory.

According to the report, US intelligence reviewed its assessment last January, in which it considered that the outbreak may have occurred naturally, to now include the possibility of the emergence of a new Corona virus by mistake due to "unsafe laboratory practices" in Wuhan, central China.

The spread of the epidemic in Russia
For its part, Russia counted today, Sunday, a new daily record for new infections in the Corona virus, which raises its outcome to more than 130 thousand, and makes the epidemic in this country the fastest spread in Europe.

At a time when several European countries started easing the procedures for closures, the Moscow municipality - which is the main epicenter of the epidemic and which includes half of the number of injured people in the country - has called on people to stay with their homes despite the good weather.

Official figures showed that an additional ten thousand and 633 people were infected with the Corona virus in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 134,687 cases in the country.

Nevertheless, as of May 12, the country is preparing for a gradual lifting of the closures announced by President Vladimir Putin last week, while acknowledging that the situation remains "difficult".

In Britain, the Minister of Transport Minister Grant Shapis said today, Sunday, in response to questions about the increase in the number of corona deaths in the country to become currently the second worst in Europe after Italy, that it is not necessary to jump to certain conclusions, and that the full picture is not yet clear.

The death toll stood at 28,131 as of May 1, just below the overall result in Italy, adding to pressure on the Conservative government, which the opposition has accused of slow handling of the early stages of the disease.

The ministers refused to make comparisons between the main death toll in other countries, saying that the additional deaths, the number of deaths for any cause that exceeded the average deaths for this time of the year, were a more indicative measure.

The latest available data showed that there were approximately 12,000 additional deaths in England and Wales in the week ended April 17. Of these, only slightly less than 9,000 death certificates were mentioned in Covid-19.    

Opening of mosques
In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani announced today, Sunday, that closed mosques since mid-March to contain the Corona pandemic will open starting tomorrow, Monday, in 30% of the regions, while the country recorded a decrease in the number of deaths due to the virus.

"Today, we decided to open mosques in 132 low-risk areas (in terms of the outbreak of the new Corona virus) from tomorrow, and to resume Friday prayers, while respecting health standards," he said in a speech during a meeting of the anti-epidemic committee broadcast by state television.

Rouhani said that "respecting social distance is more important than participating in group prayer." He noted that Islam is considered a safety imperative, while praying in mosques is desirable.

Rouhani did not clarify which provinces would be covered by the new decision, nor the number of mosques that would be authorized to open their doors.

It is expected that the decision will not be applied to the capital, Iran, or to Mashhad and Qom, as it is considered the most affected by the epidemic.

Mosques and some major shrines were closed in Iran in March, amid the largest and worst outbreaks of Covid-19 in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Health spokesman Kyanosh Jahanpur said that 47 people have died from the virus during the past 24 hours, which is the lowest daily number of deaths in 55 days.  

He also expressed his hope in a press conference that "this trend will continue in the coming days."