China denied today, Thursday, that it had asked US diplomats to conduct anal swab tests to detect infection with the Coronavirus, while the American New York Times reported that a new strain of the virus is spreading rapidly in New York City, and European Union leaders are discussing today a strategy The risks posed by mutated versions of the virus are common.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters today that Beijing has never asked US diplomats in China to conduct anal swabs as part of the Corona tests.
On Wednesday, Vice World News reported that the US State Department lodged a protest with its Chinese counterpart after learning that some of its officials had submitted to the measure.
The station quoted a US State Department spokesman as saying that Beijing had assured Washington that the anal examinations were conducted "by mistake" and that it would stop this type of examination for American diplomats.
While China does not have a national policy on the use of anal swabs, it has been used increasingly this year in some Chinese cities, and these swabs have affected schoolchildren and travelers who arrive in Beijing.
Dynasty of New York
On the other hand, the "New York Times" newspaper reported that a new strain of Corona virus is spreading rapidly in New York City.
The newspaper added that the new strain is likely to weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.
She indicated that experts from Columbia University and the California Institute of Technology conducted tests on samples of a new strain of Corona virus called "B.526.1" (B.1.526) collected in New York last November.
A side of Manhattan in New York City (Reuters)
Experts emphasized that the results of the tests revealed that the new strain is characterized by a mutation believed to be able to bypass the immune system, thus weakening the effectiveness of vaccines.
Speaking of the mutated virus strain, European leaders are holding a remote summit today, with the aim of reaching a common strategy regarding the threat posed by the mutated versions of the Coronavirus, in light of the restrictions imposed on movement in an uncoordinated manner in the countries of the Union.
This European summit comes at a time when the number of pandemic infections on the continent is not rapidly declining, due to the slow pace of vaccination campaigns, and the spread of British and South African mutated strains.
European restrictions
Due to concerns about the mutated strains, 10 EU member states imposed restrictions at their borders, and the European Commission urged 6 of them to provide explanations on movement restrictions, which it considered exaggerated, and the Commission expressed its fear that the restrictions may affect the supply chain of goods.
Among those countries that imposed restrictions are Belgium, which prohibits non-essential travel, and Germany, which imposes restrictions on crossing its borders from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the province of Tyrol in neighboring Austria.
A senior European official said, "Coordination is complicated, because European officials consider that the priority is to protect their citizens," and the same official expected "intense discussions" at today's summit.
In Britain, a study conducted by Imperial College London showed that about 90% of people over the age of 80 appeared to have defensive antibodies to the Corona virus after receiving two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The study showed that the percentage of people who had antibodies rose to 95.5% for those under 60 years old, and to 100% among those under 30, and the study found that 14% of the population in Britain had antibodies, either because of their previous infection with the virus, or After receiving the vaccine.
It is noteworthy that the Corona virus has so far infected more than 112.6 million people around the world, while the total number of deaths resulting from the virus has reached more than two million and 602 thousand, and America leads the world in terms of the number of infections, followed by India, then Brazil.