The lack of information raises more questions. Recently, 24 scientists sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) asking for an independent and rigorous investigation because they thought that the international investigation to China in early February was not deep enough. US President Joe Biden on May 26 also ordered intelligence forces to “double efforts” to investigate the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the possibility of a leak “from a laboratory accident”. While the theory that the corona virus leaked from the laboratory was “resurrected”, two competing groups of experts in the study of bat diseases in Wuhan became the target of criticism. The reason is that they are willing to ignore safety measures during research. Many new diseases in the past originated in bats. Photo: SCMP. “Batwoman” and Wuhan Institute of Virology Nicknamed “bat woman”, Dr. Shi Zhengli is a famous Chinese corona virus researcher. She has identified many strains of the virus similar to SARS (severe acute respiratory distress syndrome) over the years and forewarned of new pandemic risks. Thach’s laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) also discovered and studied viruses that are closely related to corona virus. However, the scientists point out that the two viruses are still decades apart in natural evolution. According to the report of the WHO expert team, Ms. Thach said that all field activities were carried out with full protective clothing, including N95 masks, overalls, visors, and gloves. However, in a speech in June 2018, Ms. Thach said that is not the case. “Most of the time, we’ll wear simpler protective gear, and that’s fine,” Thach said in her speech. That’s because most diseases in bats can’t be directly transmitted to humans, but can only be through intermediate animals, Ms. Thach explained. To illustrate, Ms. Thach showed the audience during the presentation a photo of her team casting nets to catch bats in the cave and sorting the samples. Some people on the team only wore medical masks and thin rubber gloves, while others used their bare hands and did not wear masks. “When are we going to strengthen the protective gear? For example, when there are too many bats in the cave or when there is a lot of dust when entering the cave,” Thach said. When the pandemic hit, Ms. Thach became quiet and appeared only occasionally. On February 2, 2020, she posted to friends on the social network WeChat and “swore on her life” that her lab was not related to the pandemic. Three months later, Ms. Thach continued to post denying rumors that she had brought intelligence files to the West, according to Global Times . Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Photo: AFP. When suspicions fell on the WIV, Ms. Thach sent a statement to the scientific journal Science in July. She said the corona virus could not have come from the WIV because her team did not encounter this strain during research. In addition, every employee here has tested negative for corona virus antibodies. According to Ms. Thach, before the pandemic, her team “never exposed or studied this virus, and did not know of its existence”. But she also admitted that her lab has not yet sequenced the genes of every sample due to financial and human constraints. She declined to say how many samples remain unsequenced. In January, Thach’s laboratory was questioned even more after the US State Department announced that there were “reasons to believe” that some WIV researchers showed symptoms similar to Covid-19 in the fall of 2019. May, Wall Street Journal also cited intelligence reports that three WIV researchers had been so sick that they needed to be examined. Vien Chi Minh, WIV’s laboratory director, called this a “blatant lie” in response to state media. Bat explorer and Wuhan CDC CDC During this time, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lab was less visible than the WIV. The WHO expert team’s report on the trip to the Wuhan CDC did not include notes on research safety measures. According to the report, the laboratory moved on December 2, 2019 to a location near the Huanan market – the market that was linked to the first cases of corona virus infection. “Such activity can disrupt the operation of any laboratory,” the WHO expert team said. However, the Wuhan CDC laboratory did not record any interruptions, according to the WHO expert. The Wuhan CDC is the place to monitor China’s initial response to the pandemic. At the Wuhan CDC, there is also a person who regularly works with bats – Dien Tuan Hoa. According to the Washington Post , in terms of position, Dien Tuan Hoa is a deputy technician in the pest control department of the Wuhan CDC. But Mr. Dien is known for being an aggressive adventurer when it comes to working with bats and insects. “He often goes to places that other people cannot find to get the necessary specimens,” a colleague said of Mr. Dien on a local TV station in January 2020. “He can confidently say that he can catch what others can’t.” Tian Junhua on a field trip to collect insects in Hubei province. Photo: China Daily. Using nets and traps, Mr. Dien’s team caught 155 bats in his home province of Hubei, and hundreds of bats in other areas for research in 2013. Mr. Dien was also a member of the team. discovered 1,445 new vertebrate RNA virus species. This result was published in a famous scientific journal Nature in 2016. Once, Wuhan CDC held an internal meeting with the theme “Learning from the achievements of Dien Tuan Hoa”. “No one can remember how many mountains he climbed, how many rivers he waded, how many bat caves he explored, how many stables he crawled, and how many landfills he had to search,” the CDC wrote of the event. However, Mr. Dien also admitted that sometimes he did not comply with research safety rules. In 2017, Mr. Dien told the state newspaper Wuhan Evening News that he once forgot his personal protective equipment, so he had to be isolated at home for 2 weeks after being shot in the body by bat urine. On several other occasions, he got bat blood on his skin while trying to control the animal with forceps, Mr. Dien said. On February 3, 2020, Mr. Dien’s team continued to appear in the journal Nature with early-stage clinical descriptions of a corona virus patient in Wuhan. The team’s research indicates that bats can be a host for pathogens. But when Covid-19 spread, Mr. Dien became quiet. March 2020, the state newspaper Health Times An anonymous source said Mr. Dien was not infected with corona virus. According to the article, Mr. Dien was in a bad mood because of rumors about whether he was patient zero. According to a report at the end of March by the WHO expert team, the Wuhan CDC denied storing or experimenting with bat viruses before the pandemic took place. However, in a video, Mr. Dien said he had been to dozens of bat caves and studied 300 types of virus vectors. Also from March, Mr. Dien no longer spoke in public. This highlights the challenge of an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19: Many of the people who might have had key information in Wuhan are now silent. Mr. Dien continued to research during this time. In August 2020, Mr. Dien was a co-author on a study on ticks. Another of his November 2020 studies focused on antibiotic resistance genes in fish. Mr. Dien no longer speaks or publishes research on bats.

The image of starfish dying dry on the sand after tourists arranged for pictures (Photo: NVCC)

The female tourist thought that some people wanted beautiful photos, so they arranged starfish to take pictures. But when they finished shooting, they left the starfish that burned dry in the sun. Frustrated by the lack of awareness of a part of tourists, she decided to share this story on travel forums. Since then, most of the online community have expressed their dissatisfaction and criticized the above behavior.

Over the past time, the trend of “taking photos with starfish” has become a “hot trend” today. Just type the keyword “starfish Phu Quoc”, within 0.64 seconds, google gave 48,300,000 related results. This shows how much interest and searching internet users have for this marine species.

In fact, it is normal to take pictures with the natural landscape in each trip and then share and introduce them to everyone. The incident is not worth criticizing if the photographer respects and does not affect the natural environment. Putting starfish on the sandy beach and then leaving it not only shows a lack of awareness in public (creating more trash for the beach), but more harmful than affecting the environmental ecosystem and marine resources.

Whether carefree or intentional, bringing starfish ashore to take pictures and then “neglected” is difficult to accept. Not to mention, the “holding, holding, touching” starfish can also cause negative effects if human hands carry viruses and bacteria harmful to marine organisms. Even so, many opinions even say that bringing starfish to the sandy beach to take pictures and then released back into the seawater is also harmful to starfish.

Starfish is the common name for the echinoderms of the class Asteroidea. There are currently about 1,800 living starfish species present in all oceans of the world. Starfish are present in a wide range from tidal flats to abyss (6,000 m). Most of them have a symmetrical 5-armed star shape with a central center point. However, there will be individual starfish species with up to 10, 20 and even 40 arms.

Starfish as well as other types of marine life contribute to the general ecosystem, creating continuity in the food chain. Once this food chain is damaged excessively, it will reduce the number of populations in the ecosystem, reduce biodiversity, loss of landscape.

In many countries, even tourists will be severely fined for touching marine creatures such as corals to take pictures. In Vietnam, the application of sanctions like this in tourist destinations is not much. However, the Law on resources and environment of sea and islands No. 82/2015 / QH13 passed by the National Assembly on June 25, 2015 clearly states the rights, obligations and responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals in the general management of natural resources, protection of the environment of the sea and islands of Vietnam. In which, content No. 5 in Article 8 of the Law clearly shows the prohibited acts: Destroying or degrading the environment, marine and island ecosystems.

Protection of marine environment contributes to ensuring the diversity of marine ecosystems (Artwork: Phuquocxanh.com)

Looking at the world wide, the issue of environmental protection, marine and island ecosystems has also been noticed for a long time. Many international conventions on the protection of the marine environment have been established, creating a basis and legal corridor for preserving the marine environment and preventing pollution at sea. In particular, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) has established the basic provisions for the conservation of marine life. UNCLOS 1982 not only defines the obligations of countries to protect the marine environment, but also dedicates a separate section on the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

Perhaps it’s time to change our perception, behavior, and habits while traveling. Instead of littering and affecting the living environment, it is necessary to consciously preserve and protect the landscape and the diversity of the ecosystem. The story of starfish in Phu Quoc is just one example, a testament to the “carefree”, “carefree” of people in front of nature. The time has come, each of us needs to contribute and join hands to build a healthy and sustainable ecosystem, for our own health, our lives! ./.