📰 Letter #78 - Chinese virologist claims COVID-19 was made in Wuhan lab / U.S. Ends Airport Covid Screening of International Arrivals

Hi. Here’s 5 point updates about what’s happening with COVID-19 in India and across the world.

Chinese virologist, who is reportedly in hiding, claimed that she has scientific evidence that proves that COVID-19 was made in a lab in China. Dr Li-Meng Yan is reportedly in hiding in order to protect herself from the Chinese govt.She said that she did some of the earliest research into COVID-19 last year and revealed the information during an interview.

She was asked where the novel coronavirus has come from and Dr Yan, who was in present via video chat from a secret location, said, “It comes from the lab — the lab in Wuhan and the lab is controlled by China’s government.” She emphasised that the fact that the virus originated from a wet market in Wuhan, China is a ‘smokescreen’. She said, “The first thing is the [meat] market in Wuhan…is a smokescreen and this virus is not from nature.“

Yan added that she was getting her intel from Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention & from local doctors. She has previously accused Beijing of lying about the virus. Yan said that her former supervisors at the Hong Kong School of Public Health which is a reference laboratory for WHO, told her to keep quiet when she alerted authorities about human-to-human transmission in December last year. Yan says that she fled country & escaped to America. She claims to have scientific evidence which proves that the virus was made in a lab in Wuhan. She said she is planning to release data.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which is running the world’s largest COVID care facility- Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre (SPCCC) (10,000 beds), has so far discharged more than 2,454 patients after treating them successfully.

According to the ITBP, they have treated patients as small as 17 days old infant to 78-year-old adult. SS Deswal, DG ITBP is taking a stock of the centre on daily basis and has asked the team to ensure that patients get the best facilities.

The U.S. government is ending Covid-19 screening of international travelers arriving at airports as airlines seek new ways to more aggressively test for the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is ending its program that directed all flights from high-risk areas to 15 U.S. airports. The CDC said the system was deemed ineffective because so many people don’t show symptoms.

The government will now focus more on voluntary measures, such as educating passengers and requesting contact information electronically. The health screening will end on Sept. 14.

This newsletter is created by - @salmanmushir, from Mangalore, India. I host a podcast called Salman Needs A Job, and I create content about jobs on my Instagram and YouTube.

Next one on Thursday.