Curfew in Italy ... and a record daily toll in the United States

"World Health" is studying the safety of mink pens in the world, after the emergence of "Corona" on farms in Denmark

Numbers of mink animals were executed at the Hans Henrik farm in Denmark due to the Corona virus.

Reuters

The World Health Organization is studying biosafety in mink breeding farms in countries of the world, after Denmark ordered the execution of all mink animals in them, after the emergence of the Corona virus among them, while large areas in Italy, yesterday, reimposed measures of closure and curfew to limit the spread of the virus, in A time when the United States recorded a daily record of new cases.

In detail, the chief technical expert on coronavirus at the World Health Organization, Maria Van Kerkove, said at a press conference in Geneva yesterday that the transmission of the virus between animals and humans is a "concern", but she added that "mutations (in viruses) are normal."

"This kind of change in the virus is something we have been tracking from the beginning."

A second WHO expert said the risk in other animals is much lower than in mink.

"We are working with regional offices in areas where mink farms are located, and we are studying biosecurity to prevent outbreaks," Van Kerkhove said.

And Denmark said this week that it intends to cull all its mink animals, and announced strict new isolation measures in the north of the country, to prevent the spread of the mutated virus from animal to human.

Van Kerkhove said that Denmark's decision to cull mink aims to prevent the emergence of a "new animal reservoir for this virus."

Mike Ryan, chief emergency expert of the organization, said at the same press conference that other farm animals, such as pigs and poultry, are subject to "very strict" biosecurity, to prevent viruses from jumping over the barriers between species.

The United States is still the country most affected by the epidemic, with 234,876 deaths.

Yesterday, more than 120,000 new cases of the virus were recorded within 24 hours, in a new daily record, according to data published by Johns Hopkins University.

In Italy, a curfew began to be implemented yesterday, and will continue until December 3.

Schools are imposed on remote education, while museums and malls are closed during the weekend.

The 20 Italian regions will be divided into green, orange and red areas, according to the severity of the epidemiological situation in them, and different restrictions will be imposed in each region.

Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and Calabria were classified among the "red areas", which means they are "high risk", and measures affecting 16 million Italians were reimposed, albeit less stringent compared to last spring.

In Milan, the capital of the Lombardy region, the hairdresser Francesco Bochu told «AFP»: «My clients were very afraid,» adding: «Last week I received only two clients, sometimes one, so there is no use for me to keep the salon open, there is no longer "Anyone outside, the offices are closed."

Fearing that the injuries would exceed the capacity of hospitals, Greece announced the re-imposition of a stone that begins today and lasts three weeks.

Under the measures, Greeks will not be able to leave their homes until after obtaining a permit via mobile text messages.

The virus has killed 673 people in Greece out of about 47,000 infections, but the number of infected people who were taken to hospitals and are in intensive care units is what worries the Greek authorities.

In recent weeks, Europe has become the epicenter of the epidemic, and is witnessing the fastest spread of it in the world, with the largest number of infections recorded, according to an AFP census.

It counted more than 11.6 million injuries, half of them in Russia, France, Spain and Britain, and about 294,000 deaths.

The Regional Director for Europe of the World Health Organization, Hans Kluge, confirmed that Europe is currently witnessing a "surge" in the number of injuries, with "one million additional injuries recorded within only a few days, and we are also witnessing a gradual increase in deaths."

He added that "with the generalization of the muzzle and strict control of gatherings, we can save the lives of more than 261 thousand people by February in Europe."

In France, which has re-imposed isolation measures since October 30, the Director-General of Health, Jerome Salomon, said that the second wave is "severe and spreading rapidly," with 58,000 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours.

As for China, it decided to prevent entry to foreign travelers from France, and about 10 other countries, from the most affected by the epidemic.

The giant Asian country seeks to avoid the return of the epidemic to its lands.

After Ireland and France, England, the most affected country in Europe, re-imposed a stone last Thursday to contain the virus that has killed about 48,000 people.

The World Health Organization warns of the effects of the epidemic on immunization services for polio and measles

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned in a press conference yesterday in Geneva of the effects of the Corona epidemic, which he described as devastating, on disrupting immunization services for polio, measles and pneumonia in children in many countries of the world during the period. Past.

The Director-General of the International Organization, as well as UNICEF, in a joint appeal, called on the donors to provide funding of $ 655 million to address the immune gaps in those countries, noting that disrupting these services leaves millions of children at risk of developing preventable diseases.

The Health Organization and "UNICEF", in a joint report yesterday, confirmed that, unlike the situation with regard to the "Corona" virus, the tools and knowledge needed to stop diseases, such as polio and measles, are available, and that the need is only for resources, and put them into place. Implementation.

The report issued by the two UN organizations pointed to the global resurgence of measles in recent years, and what brought the numbers of measles cases in 2019 to the highest number in two decades at the same time that the report warned of the possibility of increased transmission of the poliovirus in many immunocompromised regions. In Asia and Africa.

The report stressed in its warning that failure to eradicate polio now will lead to a resurgence of the disease globally, and that the number of cases may reach about 200,000 new cases annually.

Russian intelligence: There is no reliable data that "Corona" is man-made

The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said yesterday that his country is based on the fact that the new Corona virus came from an act of nature, stressing that Moscow does not have reliable data stating that the virus was created.

Naryshkin said in an interview with the Russian "Sputnik" agency yesterday: "There is no documented data indicating that this (virus) came from human hands and human intelligence, so we tend to believe that this is a product of nature."

He added that the origin of the Corona virus for the Russian scientists involved in fighting infection is not essential, explaining that it is "not a critical situation. They manufacture medicines, make vaccines, and treat patients."

Moscow ■ DBA

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