(AP photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) A geneticist investigating the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic has debunked China s claims that the outbreak may have started with frozen food. After carrying out an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan over the course of a month, two weeks of which was spent in quarantine, the World Health Organization (WHO) echoed findings by China s National Health Commission. The only definitive conclusion of the study was that the virus origin remains unknown and more research is needed. The WHO posited that there are four possible explanations for the start of the pandemic: a direct jump from animal to human, introduction through an intermediate host, transmission through frozen food, and a lab-related accident. Although high-risk gain of function experiments with bat coronavirus chimeras were being carried out on humanized mice at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) i
Avoid talking when dining in public places, CECC says
By Lin Hui-chin
and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday urged the public to avoid talking when eating out and to wear a mask at all times when not eating or drinking to prevent COVID-19 infection over the Lunar New Year holiday.
People who are under self-health management after returning from abroad should also avoid chatting as much as possible when dining at home and opt for takeouts instead of eating out, the center said.
When they have to talk during a meal, they should try to observe social distancing, or at least maintain some distance from the people they are talking to, the center said.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed one new imported case of COVID-19, bringing the nation’s total to 936 cases
The new case is a Taiwanese man in his 20s who since September last year was studying in France and returned to Taiwan on Jan. 29, the center said.
He provided a negative COVID-19 test result within three days of his flight, but while quarantining at home, he developed a cough, a runny nose, and nausea and vomiting, it said, adding that a test arranged by health authorities returned positive for COVID-19 yesterday.
A test on Tuesday showed that he