Washington [US] September 8 (ANI): Public documents revealed that the US government has pumped USD 3.1 million into health organisation ‘EcoHealth Alliance’ to back COVID-19 research at China‘s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), Fox News reported.
According to the report from US news agency The Intercept, the ‘bat coronavirus grant‘ provided EcoHealth Alliance with a total of USD 3.1 million, including USD 599,000 that the Wuhan Institute of Virology used in part to identify and alter bat coronaviruses likely to infect humans.
US Senator Rand Paul said that these newly public documents revealing the extent of US funding of coronavirus research in Wuhan show that US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Head Dr Anthony Fauci lied during his previous testimony to Congress, Fox News reported. Fauci had earlier denied any such funding by the US agency.
Citing the report, the US Senator for Kentucky said he has asked the Department of Justice to review Fauci’s testimony for lying to Congress.
“I have already asked the DOJ to review Fauci’s testimony for lying to Congress. This report should make it abundantly clear that he needs to be held accountable,” Paul tweeted.
Additionally, the documents also revealed that experimental research on genetically engineered mice with human cell receptors was conducted at the Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, and not the WIV as previously thought, Fox News reported.
Earlier, Rutgers University chemical biology professor Richard Ebright also slammed the US National Institute of Health (NIH) Director and NIAID Head Fauci.
“The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful,” Ebright said.
Even before the pandemic, many scientists were concerned about the potential dangers associated with such experiments, reports The Intercept.
Earlier, a Republican lawmaker’s report investigating the origins of COVID-19 released last month has concluded that the pandemic outbreak stemmed from a genetically modified virus that leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, first detected in December 2019.
House Republican lawmaker, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the third installment in his investigation into the origins of the virus and the missteps by China in alerting the world to the risks of the pandemic, reported The Hill.

New COVID-19 cases in US tripled over last year

By Reena Bhardwaj

Washington [US] September 8 (ANI): The United States is reporting three times more cases of COVID-19 on an average than it did a year ago.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day average of daily new cases in the US was 1,37,270 as of Monday. At the same time last year, the country was averaging just over 39,000.
Labour Day weekend saw more than three times the number of new cases than in 2020 — during a time when many thought the pandemic may be coming to a close, according to new data from the University. The surge in cases is blamed on the delta variant, which health officials say is more transmissible than other variants.
Currently, just 53 per cent of the Americans, including kids as young as 12 years, are fully vaccinated; just over 62 per cent have had at least one dose, indicating that new COVID-19 vaccine uptake is slowing.

The US is facing a different type of pandemic this wave. Now, people have the option to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccines were not available at this time last year.
However widespread vaccinations have helped limit COVID-19 deaths. Despite seeing more than three times as many daily cases on Labour Day 2021 compared to last year, the US only sees about 1.8 times as many daily deaths.
Hospitalisations are far higher now than they were at this time last year, meaning an impending fall spike in hospital resource use could be devastating. Hospitals across the several spiking states struggle to maintain operations amid shortages of beds, medical supplies and personal protective equipment.
Concerns regarding an impending spike from Labour Day prompted CDC Director Rochelle Walesnky last week to recommend that those who are not vaccinated avoid travel.
Despite the warnings from the CDC, the Transportation Security Administration screened 7.3 million travellers between Friday and Monday, compared to 3.2 million travellers for the same weekend in 2020. That marks a year-over-year increase of more than 4 million additional travellers. (ANI)