Wuhan
Half of Europe on track to catch Omicron, world economy at risk
The highly transmissible Omicron strain has swept across countries, forcing governments to impose fresh measures and some rolling out vaccine booster shots.
Chen has briefed the media on Monday, lashing out at the US calling their probes politically motivated "witch hunts" which aim to smear China's name.
The assessment, ordered by President Joe Biden 90 days ago, was unable to definitively conclude whether the virus that first emerged in central China had jumped to humans via animals or escaped a highly secure research facility in Wuhan, two US officials familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.
China brought domestic cases down to virtually zero after the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan in December 2019, allowing the economy to rebound and life to return largely to normal.
Authorities announced on Monday that seven locally transmitted infections had been found among migrant workers in the city, breaking a year-long streak without domestic cases after it squashed an initial outbreak with an unprecedented lockdown in early 2020.
At least a dozen places have stationed volunteers at government buildings, train stations and other busy public spaces to note down the names and contact information of those who are not vaccinated.
The lab accident theory of the origins of COVID-19 has gained traction in recent months. We need a proper investigation to find out what really happened.
With few clear answers, speculation has persisted since the beginning of the pandemic, spawning misinformation and conspiracy theories as well as sharp diplomatic tensions.
The UN health agency has been facing intensifying pressure for a new, more in-depth investigation of where COVID-19 came from, but so far there is no timeline for the next stage in the probe.
The latest move by Facebook, announced late Wednesday on its website, highlights the challenge for the world's largest social network of rooting out false and potentially harmful content while remaining open for discourse.
Graphic on key questions about the origins of the global pandemic, with a summary of findings from the WHO-China Joint Report revealed on 29 March.
Biden's order signals an escalation in mounting controversy over how the virus first emerged - through animal contact at a market in Wuhan, China, or through release of the coronavirus from a highly secure research laboratory in the same city.
So far, more than 3.4 million deaths worldwide have officially been attributed to COVID-19 since the disease first surfaced in China in late 2019.
After an international mission to China turned up more questions than answers about the pandemic origins, the WHO is evaluating how to move forward through a diplomatic quagmire to solve the mystery.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday called for a halt to the sale of live wild mammals in food markets to prevent the spread of disease.
But the report, drafted by World Health Organization-appointed international experts and their Chinese counterparts, offers no definitive answers on how the new coronavirus jumped to humans.
Experts believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the Covid-19 disease originally came from bats.
Graphic on key questions about the origins of the global pandemic that has killed more then 2.6 million people and devastated economies around the world.
After its discovery in Wuhan, China in 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is still here in 2021. In this Eyewitness News original documentary, we break down our understanding of COVID-19, how our science has dealt with it so far and recognising that this may be only the beginning.