World Coronavirus Dispatch: Moderna in S&P 500 after stock's stellar show

YouTube pulls Bolsonaro videos for misinformation, Covid could have been circulating in Italy in October 2019, but it's inconclusive, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Moderna joins top S&P 500 firms as stock value triples

Moderna Inc joined the US benchmark S&P 500 after its stock advanced over 30 per cent in four trading sessions. Its shares touched $321.11, another fresh high, with a market value of $129 billion on Tuesday. Moderna is the S&P index’s best-performing stock this year by a mile. The move caps the drugmaker’s transformation from an early-stage biotech to a vaccine maker supplying Covid shots to the world. With a gain of just over 207 per cent so far in 2021, Moderna’s share performance tops the index's existing leaders. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 192,054,106

Global deaths: 4,128,058

Vaccine doses administered: 3,718,108,373

Nations with most cases: US (34,226,889), India (31,257,720), Brazil (19,473,954), Russia (5,979,027), France (5,973,912).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Italian blood samples revive debate over first signs of Covid in Europe

A new research after testing blood samples collected in Italy as early as October 2019 has detected antibodies usually found in coronavirus patients, suggesting that the virus may have been circulating in the country or elsewhere even before Chinese authorities confirmed the first cases in Wuhan. The Italian researchers originally screened individuals for lung cancer before the pandemic. Last year they tested the samples again, looking for coronavirus-linked antibodies, and said they had found traces of infection. However, the researchers cautioned that while there was some evidence of antibodies, none of the samples provided conclusive proof of prior infection with Covid-19, based on the university’s strict criteria. The Italian paper, which has not been peer-reviewed, did not address the question of where the novel coronavirus originated. Read here

China opposes second phase of probe by WHO

China pushed back against the World Health Organization’s call for another probe into the coronavirus’s origins that includes examining whether it leaked from a lab, saying there’s no evidence for the theory and it defies common sense. The pathogen most likely arose in an animal, which transmitted it to humans via an intermediate host, a group of top Chinese science officials insisted at a briefing in Beijing. They praised an earlier WHO report that pointed primarily to animals and called for a worldwide search for the genesis of the outbreak, while saying that the lab leak hypothesis was “extremely impossible.” Read here

YouTube pulls Jair Bolsonaro videos for Covid-19 misinformation

YouTube has removed videos from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s channel for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak, becoming the latest tech giant to pull his statements about the pandemic. YouTube said in a press release the decision was taken “after careful review” and without consideration for Bolsonaro’s job or political ideology. The far-right President, who has overseen the world’s second deadliest outbreak, has won widespread criticism for railing against lockdowns, touting unproven cures, sowing vaccine doubts and shunning masks. Read here