According to the New York Post, Dr Fauci was asked during the event, “United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking,” earlier this month about whether he was confident that COVID-19 developed naturally.“No actually. I am not convinced about that. I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,” Dr Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, said.“Certainly, the people who investigated it say it likely was the emergence from an animal reservoir that then infected individuals, but it could have been something else, and we need to find that out. So, you know, that’s the reason why I said I’m perfectly in favour of any investigation that looks into the origin of the virus,” he added.Coronavirus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, and many believe it could have begun in a lab there and escaped. Wuhan is the only city in China with major resources devoted to the study of virology, including bat viruses.Dr Fauci was pressed on that theory during a Senate hearing on 11 May and said he would support a further investigation during an exchange with Senator Roger Marshall.“Do you think it’s possible that COVID-19 arose from a lab accident … in Wuhan, and should it be fully investigated?” Dr Marshall, also a medic, asked Dr Fauci.“That possibility certainly exists, and I am totally in favour of a full investigation of whether that could have happened,” he replied.A few months after the start of the pandemic last year, Dr Fauci said the virus most likely “evolved in nature and then jumped species,’’ as opposed to being “artificially or deliberately manipulated.”Dr Fauci and Senator Rand Paul clashed during the hearing over whether the US government funded “gain of function” research at the Wuhan lab – a process of making a virus more potent in a controlled lab setting as a way to generate better vaccines to defeat it.“Sen. Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely, entirely and completely incorrect … the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the Wuhan Institute,” Dr Fauci said.Last Thursday, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a report claiming there is “significant circumstantial evidence” that the coronavirus originated from a leak at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, and that the US government “may have funded or collaborated” in the research that led to it.“International efforts to discover the true source of the virus, however, have been stymied by a lack of co-operation from the People’s Republic of China,” the Republicans wrote in the report.COVID-19 Stats – Horizontal with Lazy LoadUK SMASHES 60 MILLION JABSBritain has surpassed the 60 million vaccinations milestone, with 762,361 first and second doses of the vaccine given out across the UK on Saturday.The total number of people having their first dose of the COVID vaccine is now 37,943,681 after 205,410 got their initial jabs on Saturday, The Sun reports.Meanwhile 556,951 got their second shots on Saturday, meaning 22,643,417 Brits are now fully vaccinated.Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Our country has one of the highest uptake rates in the world and I’m delighted that so many have answered our call to arms.”It comes as former chief adviser Dominic Cummings has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of lying about pursuing a strategy of herd immunity when the pandemic first hit, ahead of a much-anticipated hearing into Britain’s coronavirus response.Mr Cummings is due to give evidence to the House of Commons select committees on health and science on Wednesday (local time), and has already suggested he has a crucial document that will expose the government’s handling of the pandemic when it first arrived in Britain early in 2020.The influential adviser was sacked at the end of last year, and has recently been involved in a war of words with Downing Street, which accused him of leaking internal conversations and documents to the media.Mr Cummings tweeted that the government initially intended to treat the virus like the flu and pursue a strategy of herd immunity by building up natural defences, but Mr Johnson has denied that was ever the official plan.“No10 decided to lie … V foolish, & appalling ethics, to lie about it,” Mr Cummings tweeted late Saturday.Herd immunity by September 2020 “was literally the official plan,” he said. “The right line wd have been what PM knows is true: our original plan was wrong & we changed when we realised,” he added.The initial herd immunity strategy was abandoned less than two weeks before the first lockdown in March 2020 and “is a fundamental issue in the whole disaster”, he also said.“If we’d had the right preparations + competent people in charge, we wd probably have avoided lockdown1, *definitely* no need for lockdowns 2&3,” he wrote.Chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance suggested in March 2021 that herd immunity was one of the goals, but Health Secretary Matt Hancock two days later said it was “not a goal or strategy”.The former adviser warned he will release a “crucial historical document from COVID decision-making” to the Commons committee ahead of his appearance before MPs on Wednesday.Mr Cummings is constrained by the Official Secrets Act, which limits his ability to release classified documents.MPs can only release documents that relate to their “lessons learned inquiry” into the pandemic.Johnson has ordered a full public inquiry into how the pandemic was handled.NED-3588 Covid Strains ExplainedCROWDS FLOCK TO EUROVISION, MASS EVENTSExcited Eurovision Song Contest fans gathered for the final in Rotterdam on Saturday as it returns with a glittery, kitschy message of hope in the time of coronavirus.A year after the love-it or hate-it musical extravaganza was cancelled for the first time in its history, the Dutch port city is hosting the competition under tough pandemic restrictions.Italian rockers Maneskin, French chanteuse Barbara Pravi and young Maltese sensation Destiny Chukunyere are the bookmakers’ favourites to win a Eurovision like no other at Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena.This year’s theme is “Open Up”, and the Dutch government-backed coronavirus restrictions could be a model for events like Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics as the world slowly emerges from lockdown.The live audience has been limited to 3,500, travel to the Netherlands has been tough because of COVID-19, and everyone on site must have regular tests — but jubilant fans have still come to celebrate.“I think it’s the beginning of a new start,” Saskia Scharree, 51, wearing a white and orange blazer decorated with traditional blue Dutch pottery designs, told AFP outside the arena.“When something as big as this happens in Holland, you’re going to join in,” said Scharree, who said she had herself recovered from being “very ill” with coronavirus last year.Flag-waving Finnish fan Oona Sainio, 27, said she and her family had come to soak up the atmosphere despite not having tickets.“We’re big Eurovision fans and we wanted to be close to the action,” said Sainio, 27, who lives in the Netherlands.The run-up has been dominated by coronavirus scares, with Iceland’s hotly-tipped entry Dadi og Gagnamagnid was ruled out of performing live when a band member tested positive for COVID-19.Dutch 2019 winner Duncan Laurence meanwhile is also unable to perform his new song live in Saturday’s final after coming down with symptoms of the disease during rehearsals this week.The 26 finalists will perform in a televised event with nearly 200 million people.France will even have a government Minister in the audience to support her, as Europe Minister Clement Beaune was in the Netherlands for talks with Dutch officials.Beaune hailed Eurovision, created after World War II to bring Europe together for song, as being a force for good as it opens up after coronavirus.“It’s a way to say we need to breathe, we need partying, we need celebrations, we need common shared moments at the European level,” Beaune told AFP.Sporting events in Germany are seeing a wish to return to normalcy with FC Union Berlin fans celebrating outside the stadium following the Bundesliga match between FC Union Berlin and RB Leipzig at Stadion An der Alten Foersterei in Berlin, Germany. After easing the coronavirus restrictions, Union Berlin played in front of 2,000 spectators in its last home match of the season. Sporting stadiums around Germany remain under strict restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic as federal social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors although mass celebrations occur outside.Germans are flocking to outdoor spaces again such as beer gardens as customers raise their glasses of beer to each other after restaurants and cafes were allowed to open their terraces and outdoor spaces for business. Many Germans were able to visit a beer garden, dine outdoors or go swimming for the first time in months as of May 21 as parts of the country began easing COVID-19 curbs. The first cruise ship departs Northern Germany on May 22, 2021 as the entire industry had shut down during the pandemic. Visitors waited to enter the main entrance of Europa Park in Rust, western Germany on May 21 on the reopening day of the centre following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions. ITALY PASSES VACCINE MILESTONEItaly on Saturday passed the milestone of 30 million doses injected in its COVID-19 vaccination effort, with nearly 10 million people in the country now fully vaccinated.More than 9.85 million people in Italy have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, according to government figures, representing 16.6 per cent of the 60 million-strong population.Two thirds of the doses administered so far in Italy have gone to those aged over 60.Hit hard by the pandemic in early 2020, Italy has suffered 125,153 COVID-19 deaths — the highest official toll in Europe after Britain, with 128,000 deaths.Since April 26 Italy has been cautiously relaxing months-long coronavirus restrictions, with bars and restaurants now serving customers outdoors.The latest data has been promising, with health authorities on Saturday reporting 125 COVID deaths over the past 24 hours — three times less than a month ago.The positivity rate of some 300,000 COVID tests carried out over the same period has meanwhile dropped to 1.6 per cent, the lowest in 2021.BOLSONARO FINED FOR BREAKING COVID RESTRICTIONSPresident Jair Bolsonaro must pay a fine for failing to adhere to state health safety regulations at a public event, the governor of Maranhao state said, as Brazil struggles to contain the pandemic.Health authorities filed the case against Bolsonaro “for the promotion in Maranhao of gatherings with no sanitary safeguards. The law applies to everyone,” the governor of the northeastern state, leftist Flavio Dino, tweeted late Friday.Dino reminded the public that gatherings of more than 100 people are banned in his state, and the use of face masks is mandatory.Bolsonaro’s office has 15 days to appeal, after which the amount of the fine will be set. The office did not answer requests for comment from AFP.On Friday, Bolsonaro handed out rural property titles in Acailandia, some 500 kilometres from Sao Luis, capital of Maranhao state.At the event the maskless Bolsonaro blasted Governor Dino as a “chubby dictator.” The far-right Brazilian president opposes COVID confinement rules, and has attacked state governors who impose local health restrictions as “dictators.” Brazil has the world’s second highest coronavirus death toll, after the United States.
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