Bloomberg Virus samples sent to the Wuhan Institute of Virology seven years ago closely resemble Covid-19, according to a report in the Sunday Times that highlights unanswered questions about the origins of the global pandemic. Scientists in 2013 sent frozen samples to the Wuhan lab from a bat-infested former copper mine in southwest China after six men who had been ...

Bloomberg Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike declared victory in an election for a second term, as the city tries to keep a fresh surge of Covid-19 in check and maintain hopes of hosting the Olympics in 2021. Koike, the first woman elected to govern the 14 million-strong city, prevailed over 21 challengers on Sunday to win another four-year term, national public ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s three-week stretch of no new local Covid-19 cases may have been broken after two people tested positive for the virus, Radio Television Hong Kong reported, citing unidentified people. A 59-year-old man is in stable condition at Princess Margaret Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, RTHK said. The results of a second check to confirm the infection have ...

Bloomberg Nigerian doctor Avwebo Otoide had just finished visiting a patient when a Toyota Hilux with flashing lights pulled her over. A man with a flak jacket jumped out, pointed a gun at her and demanded she show her identity document. As she rummaged in her bag to find her medical card, he slapped her on the head. She was ...

Bloomberg The UK will plow 800 million pounds ($1 billion) into job centers, in an effort to cope with a wave of unemployment in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. The government will double the number of work coaches to 27,000 to help benefit claimants back into work, with an initial 4,500 hires by October, the Treasury said in a statement. ...

Bloomberg An average of 178,000 workers have been exiting Spain’s furlough program every week to return to their jobs, a sign that the economic recovery is slowly gathering pace in a country that’s expected to suffer one of Europe’s deepest recessions this year. The daily exodus has accelerated as authorities gradually lifted a strict nationwide lockdown that crippled Europe’s fourth-largest ...

Bloomberg The UK government is set to award 5 billion pounds ($6.2 billion) of coronavirus testing contracts to private companies as it overhauls the way it tracks Covid-19. The tender from Public Health England, announced in a public notice, comes after Britain’s coronavirus-testing effort has been dogged by reports of missing tests and long waits for results. The UK currently ...

Bloomberg Budget restrictions for European Union (EU) member states will apply again after the coronavirus-driven recession is over, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said in an interview with Corriere della Sera. The EU’s stability pact — rules to ensure members pursue sound public finances and coordinate fiscal policy — remains active, Dombrovskis said in the interview, specifying that ...

Bloomberg The German economy will recover from coronavirus crisis and resume growth by October “at the latest,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told Bild am Sonntag. Altmaier expects the German economy to grow by more than 5% in 2021 after shrinking 6% this year, the newspaper cites him as saying in an interview. The minister sees the number of jobless in ...

Bloomberg Bikes are increasingly muscling aside cars on Europe’s city streets, as coronavirus accelerates a shift towards pedal power. Even before the pandemic, bicycles were enjoying an uptick in demand from environmentally conscious consumers, but the risk of contagion on buses and subways increased the appeal. The emergence of e-bikes, which boost power with an electric motor, has removed some ...