TYB
sputniknews take on the claims:
Trump Claims He Has Evidence Linking Wuhan Lab to COVID-19, But Refuses to Offer Details
https://sputniknews.com/us/202004301079150856-trump-china-would-take-us-for-ride-like-youve-never-seen-with-sleepy-joe-as-potus/
After delivering remarks on how the federal government looks to protect American senior citizens from the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, US President Donald Trump breathed new life into conspiracy theories surrounding the virus' origin.
Trump confirmed to reporters in the White House East Room on Thursday that he has observed things that give him confidence that the contagious disease originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology - a theory that goes against previous statements issued by the World Health Organization.
“All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not manipulated or constructed in a lab or somewhere else,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said on February 21.
However, when pressed on his assertion, Trump claimed it was something he is "not allowed" to disclose.
Trump has previously announced that US intelligence officials were conducting investigations based on reports that COVID-19 made its way to the world following an accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
"We’re looking at it," Trump said during a Coronavirus Task Force briefing on April 17. "A lot of people are looking at it - it seems to make sense."
When asked whether he holds Chinese President Xi Jinping personally responsible, Trump stopped short of calling out the leader specifically for the alleged misinformation that came out of Wuhan, China, regarding the novel coronavirus.
Beijing and Biden
Earlier in the briefing, Trump argued that China opposes the idea of his re-election and would prefer for Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden to become president.
The US president contended that if Biden, who he referred to as "Sleepy Joe," won the 2020 presidential election, China "would take this country for a ride like never before."
Trump also noted that the US-China trade deal was now a secondary concern to Beijing's handling of COVID-19.
The US president's claims on Thursday regarding China and Biden came just hours after he sat down with Reuters for a Wednesday interview and claimed China “will do anything they can to have [him] lose” the upcoming presidential election.
He argued that the country "can do a lot" when it comes to reprimanding China over the novel coronavirus.
UK Sky News take on the claims:
Coronavirus: Trump says he has seen evidence coronavirus came from Wuhan lab
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-trump-says-covid-19-virus-came-from-wuhan-lab-but-he-wont-reveal-evidence-11981445
Donald Trump claims he has seen evidence the novel coronavirus originated in a Wuhan laboratory.
Speaking at a White House news conference, the US president said China either could not stop spread of the virus, or let it spread.
Mr Trump said he feels confident the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, adding that US authorities were "looking at it very, very strongly".
"We're going to see where it is - we're going to see where it comes from," he said, "There's a lot of theories."
"China might even tell us," he added.
Asked by a reporter whether he had seen "anything that gives you a high degree of confidence" the institute was the origin of the virus, he responded: "Yes I have."
And asked a few minutes later what gave him such confidence, he said: "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."
He declined to say whether he holds Chinese President Xi Jinping responsible for what he feels is misinformation.
( did not anything yet on BBC news feed)
Germany considering “coronavirus immunity cards”
‘Immunity’ with benefits? Germans worried as govt mulls IDs ‘making life easier’ for Covid-19 survivors
(rt news April 30 2020)
https://www.rt.com/news/487356-germany-coronavirus-immunity-passports/
Berlin is reportedly considering issuing IDs confirming the bearer is immune to Covid-19 and may have more freedom than the as-yet uninfected. It adds to debate on whether recovery from the virus protects humans from reinfection.
Germany's federal government has passed a bill that would allow for handing out “coronavirus immunity cards” to anyone who has recovered from – and thus developed enough antibodies against – the disease, according to Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, citing a copy of the document.
The IDs, similar to a vaccination certificate, could make life easier "in many places," Health Minister Jens Spahn believes. Owners of the "immunity passports" will be afforded a chance to carry out certain activities more easily, he said, citing healthcare staff as an example.
While such a rationale looks legit at a glance, further passages of the bill suggest more intrusion. They refer to the Infection Protection Act, under which the state can forcefully send contagious people or those with "suspicious" symptoms into quarantine, or even bar them from entering certain public places.
The draft would also allow employers to learn about all the "transmittable diseases" of their staff, possibly including Covid-19. So far, this right has only applied to "diseases that can be prevented by vaccination." The plan, however, appears to be on hold because there is no reliable scientific data as to whether coronavirus immunity insures against catching the virus again.
But online observers have already likened these sections to what had happened in Germany under the Nazi regime. One user suggested"sticking a [yellow] star to my right breast and sending me into an internment camp," while another netizen reminded readers that "curbing basic rights for a group of the population has already existed in Germany."
Others draw attention to the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) warning against giving out such IDs. There's "no evidence" that people who recover from Covid-19 are protected from a second infection, it said, in the latest brief widely quoted by German Twitter commenters.
Some of them pointed out that the measure would have the opposite effect. It will cause people "to get infected deliberately, in the hope that the course of the disease will go off lightly and that they will receive the special card," one opined.
Local politicians have been equally skeptical of the idea. "Under no circumstances should such data be misused or lead to discrimination," Ulrich Kelber, federal data protection commissioner, told Suddeutsche. Kordula Schulz-Asche, the Green Party speaker in charge of healthcare, called the plans "questionable."
Meanwhile, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is set to trial a "digital immunity card" throughout the course of two or three weeks. Patients will have to use a mobile application to save the results of their Covid tests in an encrypted database; authorities and other concerned entities will then be able to digitally check the test status.