The hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic can originate from the Wuhan Institute of Virology is of great interest to the world. (Photo: CNN) Where is the “birthplace of COVID-19”? The laboratories at the Wuhan Institute of Virology are classified as the safest, or biosafety level 4 (BSL4). They are formulated to control dangerous bacteria and viruses that can cause serious diseases for which there is no cure or vaccine. The researchers here are all well-trained professionals and equipped with protective gear. “ The laboratory is equipped with an HVAC feeder system so viruses cannot escape through the exhaust, all wastes are treated with chemicals or high temperatures to ensure that no (pathogens) are still active. dynamic “, said Dr. Gregory Koblentz at George Mason University. In addition to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, there are still 59 similar scientific research institutions in the world. Meanwhile, there are no international standards specifying the level of safety, security and responsibility in the preservation of disease-carrying specimens at these facilities. The possibility of problems in these labs is entirely possible. This rate is even higher for the thousands of lower-level laboratories than the Wuhan research facilities scattered around the world. The laboratories at the Wuhan Institute of Virology are classified as the safest. (Photo: CNN) Man-made disaster A prime example of a disaster stemming from a laboratory accident is the human H1N1 virus. After the terrible pandemic of 1918, in 1977, the H1N1 epidemic once again leaked from the laboratories of the Soviet Union and China, then spread all over the world. In 2001, a mentally disturbed employee of a scientific laboratory in the US spread anthrax spores across the country, killing five people. In 2004, two Chinese researchers exposed to the SARS virus became the source of infection, one of the infected people died. In 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration discovered that some samples carried smallpox at risk of being released. Lynn Klotz, a senior fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Nuclear Nonproliferation, warned that scientific labs have posed many public health threats in history. history, and a similar situation is likely to repeat itself in the future. “ Human error accounts for more than 70% of laboratory incidents “, said Mr. Klotz. A prime example of a disaster stemming from a laboratory accident is the human H1N1 virus. Is Wuhan bat research dangerous? GOF research involves editing pathogens to make them more contagious, more dangerous, or easier to evade vaccines and treatments, all with the aim of improving measures against these pathogens. this disease. GOF has long been an area of ​​intense controversy. The US government, the largest funder of research on the link between COVID-19 and bats in Wuhan, disagrees with several independent scientists. They could not agree on whether this work should be classified as a GOF study. Epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch expressed concern about studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus in bats: I am afraid that it will create a new strain of virus that, although not deadly if infected by the laboratory staff, will cause a new pandemic.” . “ This research is unnecessary and does not contribute to drug or vaccine development ‘, said Professor Richard Ebright at Rutgers University, a longtime GOF expert. The US government also banned GOF research in 2014. The ban was relaxed in 2017, under which some cases will be considered to be allowed to operate based on the application of the research. However, the review process has been criticized as lacking transparency and unreliable. Leading US health experts Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health have denied the research on COVID-19 and Wuhan bats is of the GOF category, but independent scientists disagree with this. their statement. The US government is the largest funder of research on the link between COVID-19 and bats in Wuhan. (Photo: AP) There is currently no clear scientific evidence on whether the virus that causes the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a laboratory. However, there is some indirect evidence in favor of this hypothesis: Wuhan is only about 1,600 km north of the bat cave containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus, scientists from Wuhan are also known to often frequent visits to bat caves to take samples. Alina Chan, an expert in molecular biology at the Broad Institute, said the SARS-CoV-2 virus does not grow quickly after infecting people. This is one of the signs that the virus came from the lab. Ms. Chan added that the research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus will not be abandoned even after the pandemic ends. On the contrary, this study can be further extended in the future.

The number of people downloading and using Bluezone has increased sharply recently, since the new wave of the Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Vietnam. According to information from the Department of Informatization, as of 5pm on May 11, the Bluezone application has surpassed 31.88 million downloads. The number of downloads of Bluezone applications has increased by 131,000 times compared to May 10 and 1.3 million times compared to April 28 – the beginning of the wave. Covid-19 The current. Many people have downloaded and used the Bluezone application when they heard about new developments about the situation of the Covid-19 epidemic in Vietnam. The Department of Informatization also said that out of a total of nearly 32 million downloads of Bluezone application, the total number of phone number subscribers has surpassed 20 million. These are encouraging results for epidemic prevention and control in Vietnam, especially when Bluezone is currently one of the five recommended technology solutions to combat the spread of Covid-19. Currently, Da Nang, Hai Duong, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City are the 5 leading localities in the country in terms of the percentage of Bluezone users in terms of the total population. Accordingly, there were 491,000 Bluezone users in Da Nang (accounting for 43.28%). This number in Hai Duong is 676,000 people (accounting for 39.65%) and in Hanoi is more than 3 million people (37.74%). The number of Bluezone users in the remaining provinces in the top 5 are Quang Ninh 470,600 people (accounting for 35.64%) and Ho Chi Minh City 2.8 million people (accounting for 31%). In the opposite direction, the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nam Dinh, Dak Lak, Nghe An and Dien Bien are ranked at the bottom with a low percentage of Bluezone users, accounting for less than 14% of the total population. Bluezone is currently the most effective technology solution to prevent and combat Covid-19. Bluezone is an application that records contact history, thereby providing early warning and helping to accurately trace people suspected of being infected with Covid-19. The effectiveness of Bluezone has been proven when this application helps health authorities trace thousands of suspected cases of close contact with infected people or new suspected infected people. Notably, 17 positive cases were found thanks to Bluezone during the second outbreak in Hai Duong in January 2021. These are all cases found outside of the trace list by normal epidemiological investigation. The advantage of Bluezone is to help detect early cases of close contact with people infected with (suspected) Covid-19 but do not know or have no symptoms of the disease. Bluezone users will therefore be warned early in case they have ever been in contact with a potential carrier. The use of Bluezone in combination with epidemiological investigation methods will help minimize the number of people who have to be isolated. Instead of thousands of people having to go to quarantine for prevention as before, the number of quarantined people will now be reduced to a minimum. According to experts’ estimates, for Bluezone to be effective, the percentage of users of this application must reach at least 60% of the adult population. In Vietnam, 50 million people install and use Bluezone is enough to effectively protect the whole community. Currently, the number of Bluezone users in Vietnam is still low. Therefore, for the application to be effective, it is necessary to have the cooperation of the whole community through downloading and using Bluezone. Trong Dat How to install Bluezone to help warn people suspected of being infected with Covid-19:

To receive alerts from Bluezone, the first thing to do is to download and install this application.

Link to download Bluezone on Android

Link to download Bluezone on iOS

After installation, users need to grant Bluezone application permission to access memory and Bluetooth connection to receive alerts from the application.

Genetically modified mosquito larvae will be released in the US. Oxitec has previously released the aegypti Aedes mosquito in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama and Malaysia, and the company has reported that the local strain of A. aegypti has reduced by at least 90%. A. aegypti can carry diseases such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, and the release of genetically modified mosquitoes is one way to control this population without the use of insecticides. Oxitec’s genetically engineered mosquitoes are male, engineered to carry lethal genes; When genetically modified pests mate with wild female mosquitoes, the lethal gene is passed on to their offspring. Although the gene does not affect the survival of males, it prevents females from building an essential protein and thus causes them to die before adulthood. Only female mosquitoes bite humans (male mosquitoes only drink nectar), so denatured mosquitoes and their surviving males cannot transmit disease to humans. A. aegypti mosquitoes make up about 4% of all mosquitoes in the Florida Keys but cause the majority of mosquito-borne diseases in the area. The region typically spends $1 million a year on mosquito control, resorting to costly measures such as aerial spraying. Release of hundreds of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes could be a less expensive and more effective option, especially as mosquito populations become resistant to pesticides over time. Oxitec was approached by the local government in 2010, and after a decade of regulatory review and local feedback, both the board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finally approved the plan. Release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Keys. At the end of April, the company placed boxes of mosquito eggs at six locations in Cudjoe Key, Ramrod Key and Vaca Key, according to Nature. Over the next 12 weeks, about 12,000 newly hatched male mosquitoes will emerge from the box. This will be an initial test so Oxitec can collect data before conducting a second test with nearly 20 million mosquitoes later this year. The company will capture mosquitoes during the test to see how far the insects travel from their boxes, how long they live, and whether female mosquitoes actually pick up the lethal gene and die. To make it easier to track genetically engineered mosquitoes, Oxitec introduced a gene that causes the mosquitoes to glow under a specific color of light. The experiment was met with strong opposition from a small portion of Florida Keys residents, as well as the Florida Keys Environmental Alliance and Food Safety Center. Concerned that the boxes of mosquito eggs could be vandalized, Oxitec placed them in a secret place and did not reveal their exact location to the public. Questions remain as to whether genetically modified mosquitoes cause undesirable effects on mosquitoes, local animals, or the ecosystem at large. For example, after Oxitec released genetically modified mosquitoes in Jacobina, Brazil, genes from the insect were mutilated in local mosquito populations, suggesting that the lethal gene failed to kill some females before they can mate. According to a 2019 study published in the journal Scientific Reports, their hybrids did not carry the lethal gene, but instead carried genes from the original Cuban and Mexican mosquito populations used to create the modified mosquitoes. genes. It is unclear whether these new genes may have changed the biology of the mosquito. Molecular biologist Natalie Kofler, founder of E Edit Nature, an organization that advocates for the responsible use of gene editing, told Nature she hopes the Oxitec test will be conducted in a transparent and in a way that might make some community members feel better about the whole situation.